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BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 

Serial No. 709, General Series No. 513 

Entered at eeeond-clae* matter June 10, 1898, at the poetoffiee at Maditop, Wii., under the 
Act of July 18, 1894 


EXTENSION DIVISION 


General Information and Welfare 


V, 


Public Recreation 

PBICE ONE DOLLAR 



MADISON 

Copyrighted 
February, 1915 






































BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 

Serial No. 709, General Series No. 513 

Entered as second-class matter June 10, 1898, at the postoffice at Madison, Wis., under the 
Act of July 16, 1894 


EXTENSION DIVISION 


General Information and Welfare 


Public Recreation 


PRICE ONE DOLLAR 







MADISON 

Copyrighted 
February, 1915 













COPYRIGHTED 1915 
BY 

RICHARD HENRY EDWARDS 


FEB 15 1915 



© Cl, A 3 917 5 0 




CONTENTS 


Introduction by Edward Alswortii Ross. 5 

Preface .. 7 

PART I. THE PROBLEM OF POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 

I. The Amusement Situation in General. 11 

II. The Dramatic Group of Amusements. 27 

1. Serious drama . 31 

2 . Melodrama, musical comedy, farce, burlesque.... 42 

3. Vaudeville . 47 

4. Motion pictures . 51 

III. The Social Rendezvous Group of Amusements. 60 

1. Cafes with amusement features and similar places 60 

2. Public dance halls . 66 

3. Pool rooms and similar “hang-outs” for men_ 77 

IV. The Athletic Group of Amusements. 80 

1. Amateur athletics . 80 

2. Professional athletics . 88 

a. Baseball . 88 

b. Boxing . 93 

V. Special Amusement Places . 96 

1. Commercial amusement parks . 96 

2. Race track parks. 102 

VI. Special Amusement Events.. 107 

1. Holiday and similar celebrations. 110 

2. Excursions and outings . 112 

3. The circus . 115 

4. Amusement features of fairs. 117 

5. Automobile races . 118 

6 . Aeroplane exhibitions. 120 


PART II. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS OF THE PROBLEM OF 
POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 

I. Summary and Forecast: the Prevalence of Profes¬ 
sionalism, Commercialism and Immorality Ne¬ 
cessitate a Public Awakening and the Improve¬ 
ment of Conditions by Pressure of Public 


Opinion . 125 

1. Professionalism . 125 

2. Commercialism . 130 

3. Immorality . 133 


[ 3 ] 

































II. Restrictive Public Opinion Expressed in Repressive 
and Regulative Measures in Relation to Evils 


Incident to . 138 

1. The situation in general . 139 

2. The dramatic group . 141 

3. The social rendezvous group . 144 

4. The athletic group . 147 

5. Special amusement places . 148 

6. Special amusement events . 149 

III. Constructive Public Opinion .. 153 

1. Play—The gospel of play. 153 

2. Efforts to solve the problems of the dramatic 

group . 162 

3. Efforts to solve the problems of the social ren¬ 

dezvous group . 170 

4. Efforts to solve the problems of the athletic group 

and commercial amusement places. 180 

5. Efforts to solve the problems of special amuse¬ 

ment events . 189 

6. City departments of recreation . 197 

PART III. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOR LOCAL ACTION 

I. The Amusement Situation in General . 205 

II. The Dramatic Group . 209 

III. The Social Rendezvous Group . 210 

IV. The Athletic Group . 211 

V. Special Amusement Places . 212 

VI. Special Amusement Events . 212 


Appendix. 

Vocational Opportunities . 213 

Questions for debaters. 214 

A suggested order of treatment for the use of this study by 

discussion groups . 216 


[ 4 ] 


























INTRODUCTION 


The three master forces fixing the mundane welfare 
of human beings are Work, Living Conditions, and 
Recreation. Students of society learned to appreciate 
the first two of these before they noticed the third. They 
were aroused as to the labour problem and the housing 
problem before they became concerned over the manner 
of use of leisure time. Mr. Edwards has realized the 
strategic importance of this last factor, and in this mono¬ 
graph has given us the most comprehensive and search¬ 
ing survey of the tendencies and problems of public 
recreation that has come to my notice. 

The labour question leads into the thick of class strug¬ 
gle. One learns to balance the claims and interests of 
contending groups. The issues raised are not easy to 
settle in terms of the soul’s health of the individual. 
Those who bring to the great debate nothing but ethical 
considerations do not get very far or command much 
confidence. In the settlement of labour problems such 
matters as risk and fatigue, efficiency and economy, bulk 
large. 

The recreation problem, on the other hand, does not 
precipitate us into the class struggle. The conflict is 
not so much between groups as between warring sides 
of human nature—appetite and will, impulse and reason, 
inclination and ideal. Here, if anywhere, is the place 
for ethical considerations. The disposition of leisure 
time is preeminently a conscience matter. A youth sub¬ 
mits perforce to the conditions of his work, but he 
chooses his recreations in freedom. To acquaint young 
people with the good or ill effects of the different varieties 
of recreation upon the higher self is the surest way to 
wean them from that which is frivolous and debasing. 



This sociological study is profoundly moral. It is 
true that the author invites the individual to study not 
his own use of leisure time but the problems of public 
recreation. But, while pondering on the obstacles in the 
way of community advancement, he is sure to do some 
hard thinking about his own habits and choices. The 
author’s strategy is in line with the modern ideal of 
social service instead of individualistic salvation. The 
individual saves his own soul while helping his fellows to 
save theirs. "While Mr. Edwards’ contribution has the 
objectivity and the scholarship of a scientific work, it 
will be found that in reaction upon the student it has 
much in common with masterpieces of moral inspiration. 

Edward Alsworth Ross. 


[ 6 ] 




GTfte {Hmbersrttp of ^tgconsfin 

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION DIVISION 

General Information and Welfare 


Officers of Administration 
Charles Richard Van Hise, Ph. D., LL. D., 
President of the University 

Louis E. Reber, M. S., Sc. D., 

Dean, University Extension Division 

John Lewis Gillin, Ph. D., 

Secretary, Department of General Information and Welfare 


PUBLIC RECREATION 

BY 

Richard Henry Edwards, M. A., 
Editor of Studies in Social Problems 


PREFACE 

This outline study of Public Recreation, including 
the problems involved and the organized efforts to im¬ 
prove conditions, is published in the interest of a care¬ 
ful consideration of the subject by groups of citizens. 
It is adaptable to use in discussion and debating clubs 
of various sorts, in civic organizations, women’s clubs, 
and social centers. 

High school and college debaters will find references 
under each topic and a special set of debate questions in 
the Appendix. The study is also adaptable to use as a 


[ 7 ] 





guide for investigation of local conditions and the devel¬ 
opment of a recreation program for a community. 

The full use of this study depends upon access to 
some, at least, of the books and periodicals listed. Any 
public library will be able to furnish a portion of the 
material desired. All members of discussion clubs using 
this study should frequent the public library and make 
their wants known to the librarian. An efficient li¬ 
brarian always welcomes the opportunity to be of use to 
such groups and to arrange the material in accessible 
form. A library board usually buys the books for which 
there is most demand. A simple and effective plan is for 
each member of the discussion club to buy a book or pro¬ 
vide a magazine article on the subject and thus establish 
a circulating library. 

The Extension Division of the university has prepared 
package libraries comprising selections of books and mag¬ 
azine articles listed in this study, which will be loaned 
upon application to groups within the state. 

For suggestions upon the formation and conduct of 
discussion groups or clubs dealing with social questions, 
reference should be made to an article in Charities and 
Commons (now The Survey) for October 17, 1908, en¬ 
titled The Social Problems Group, or to the Appendix 
of the author’s book entitled Popular Amusements 
which is a reprint of this bulletin with additions. (As¬ 
sociation Press, 124 East 28th Street, New York City, 60 
cents net.) Attention is also called to the author’s com¬ 
panion volume Christianity and Popular Amusements, 
in which the same subjects are treated from the Chris¬ 
tian view point. (Association Press, 124 East 28th 
Street, New York City, 50 cents net.) For a suggested 
order of treatment for the use of this study by discussion 
groups, and a statement of the point of view from which 
it has been written, see p. 216. 

18 ] 



THE PROBLEM OF POPULAR 
AMUSEMENTS 







✓ 


















































































































M - 













I The Amusement Situation in General 

“It is as if we ignored a wistful, over-confident creature who 
walked through our city streets calling out, ‘I am the spirit 
of youth! With me all things are possible.” Jane Addams. 

We are to study together the amusements of the Amer¬ 
ican people. We are to pay especial attention to their 
extent, their characteristics, and the moral influence 
which they exert. We are to study them critically but 
constructively. We seek no repression of the instinct 
of play, but the full and rich development of that in¬ 
stinct through forms of expression which are not domi¬ 
nated by commercialism or tainted by immorality. We 
are to study the situation as a national problem, but not 
at a distance. ‘ ‘ Our town 7 7 is to be at the focus of inter¬ 
est, and conditions elsewhere will interest us as they are 
like or unlike our own. We are to listen to “the voice 
of the towns, the little aggregations where the sinew-of 
the nation grows, rather than of the metropolis.’ 7 

What is the amusement situation in America today? 
What are the people in “our town 77 actually doing for 
their recreation ? Where do they go for their fun ? Not 
merely the little group of those who are known to any 
one individual, but the bulk of the people throughout 
the town—where are they on Saturday and Sunday 
nights, and holidays? What are the conditions which 
obtain where they go? What are the influences which 
surround them there? Has the play impulse in “our 
town 77 been coined at a nickel a thrill, a quarter for a 
real sensation? Have our schools and homes, our libra¬ 
ries and churches left the instinct of play to be ex¬ 
ploited by those who seek profits only ? 


[lU 



A Typical Town Situation 

The situation is vividly illustrated by one who found 
himself one summer evening in the center of what we 
may call a typical American town, and 

“On a brightly-lighted street thronged with summer girls, 
school-boys, children, country folks and working people. But 
there was something strange about this street. It seemed to 
have only one side; and the people’s faces were turned one 
way. The side to which the people flocked was light; the 
other side was, comparatively speaking, dark. The visitor 
crossed from the bright to the dark side, and discovered there, 
dimly illuminated by an occasional flickering lamp, inter¬ 
spersed with comfortable homes, stretching in dull array—the 
very institutions of Civilization itself. * * * 

“Here was the library, spacious and solid * * * I read 

a card, also, affixed to the spiked gateway fortifying the heavy 
doors: ‘This Library closed at 5 p. m. during July, August and 
September.’ It is closed Sundays, holidays and Saturday after¬ 
noons. Beyond the library was the high school, substantially 
built, designed to endure for many years. * * * Yet this 

great agent of civilization, the measure by which western na¬ 
tions tell off their progress, seemed lazy and indifferent: I could 
use it in no other way except to sit on its steps and watch life 
on the other side of the way—and the steps were dusty. Its in¬ 
hospitable air hurried me on to a cozy dwelling under elm 
trees. * * * 

“But as I paused a policeman crossed the street, closed the 
gate, tried the catch, and looked at me as if to say ‘How came 
that gate open?’ * * * I learned that the house was once 

the home and is now the memorial of a famous poet. Summer 
travelers make a point of visiting it, the policeman said, and it 
would be worth my while to stay over to see the great man’s 
cradle and his grandfather’s clockr I could not stay over, 1 ob¬ 
jected, whereupon he replied severely that it was worth patron¬ 
izing, if only for the sake of the public-spirited committee of 
leading ladies who opened it daily from two to five. * * * 

‘That,’ he said more affably, ‘is the Old First Church, built in 
1798, and the statue in front is of its great minister, who 
preached from 1800 to 1850.’ ‘Have you a good man now?’ I 


[ 12 ] 



asked idly. ‘Fair,’ he replied, ‘but the church'is closed during 
the summer, you know.’ 

To that u other side” the visitor next turned: 

“It was festooned with lights and cheap decorations meant 
only for fair weather; the doors of shops stood wide open, and 
sodawater fountains were crowded with boys and girls; there 
were fruit and nut stands, popcorn wagons decorated with flags, 
ice cream parlors with every table filled, and people waiting 
their turn over by the candy counters; besides penny shows 
and the gay vestibules of nickel theaters. Opposite the barren 
school yard was the arcaded entrance to the Nickelodeon, fin¬ 
ished in white stucco, with the ticket-seller throned in a chariot 
drawn by an elephant trimmed with red, white, and blue lights. 
A phonograph was going over and over its lingo, and a few 
picture machines were free to the absorbed crowd which circu¬ 
lated through the arcade as through the street. Here were 
groups of working girls—now happy ‘summer girls,’ because 
they had left the grime, ugliness and dejection of their factories 
behind them, and were freshened and revived by doing what 
they like to do. * * *” 1 

If this is a fair picture of a typical American town, it 
gives a clue to the issues before us, for it raises questions 
that challenge every institution established by society for 
the protection and guidance of young people. 


The Extent of Commercial Amusements 

No reliable figures are in existence covering the extent 
of commercial amusements in America as a whole, but 
recreation surveys have been made in several cities 
where they are prevalent, notably in Milwaukee, Detroit, 
Kansas City and San Francisco. These surveys indicate 
that amusement enterprises have captured the leisure 
time and attention of all classes. In Kansas City, for 

1 S. N. Patten, Current Literature, v. 49, p. 185-188, August, 
1909, Quoted from the author’s Product and Climax, 

[13] 



example, with a population of 248,381, the annual at¬ 
tendance at commercial recreations is estimated at 41,- 
062,808, and the annual expenditure $6,010,037.48. In 
San Francisco, having a population of 416,912, the thea¬ 
ters and motion picture houses, “with a total weekly ca¬ 
pacity of almost 2,000,000, an estimated Aveekly attend- 
tendance of over half a million, and an estimated expen¬ 
diture by patrons of over $100,000 per week, . 
are entitled to serious attention.’’ In New York City, 
with a population of 4,766,883, a careful estimate indi¬ 
cates that “one thousand motion picture shows are col¬ 
lecting over twelve million dollars a year from the peo¬ 
ple.” “Nearly six hundred dance halls are running on 
a basis of profit. ’ ’ 2 

So popular, indeed, have commercial amusements be¬ 
come, that their patronage may be said to be universal. 
One has only to watch the night life of any city as it 
moves in and out past the box offices, to see young, 
middle aged, and old, men, women, and children, of every 
occupation and station in life, all intent on finding “a 
good time.” Sooner or later the whole city turns out. 
Amusement enterprises have indeed become a vast busi¬ 
ness interest, involving enormous investments of capi¬ 
tal, occupying much valuable property in the heart of 
the cities, and receiving huge sums from the earnings 
of all classes of citizens. Their field of operations ex¬ 
tends to every place where a venture can be expected 
to pay. The ability of so many fake enterprises to make 
money indicates the openness and gullibility of the pub¬ 
lic mind, and emphasizes also the dearth of wholesome 
and attractive offerings. 


2 The City Where Crime is Play, p. 30. 


[ 14 ] 



Characteristics 


The characteristics of public amusements must be 
studied type by type. They are too varied for general 
statement, though they may be roughly classified as dra¬ 
matic, sociable, and athletic, with the addition of certain 
special places and special events. Their variety itself is 
significant of the amounts of money expended upon them 
and the intensity of popular desire to hear or see some 
new thing. Ingenious appeal is made to cuiiosity and 
the love of spectacle, to sociability, appetite and thirst, 
to sex excitement, antagonism and many other human de¬ 
sires. Spectacular offerings have been sought out in the 
remotest corners of the globe, and made to yield their 
brief moment of stimulation to the ever shifting multi¬ 
tude. Some thriller is provided for every pleasurable 
sensation known to man. 


Morals 

It is important to recognize that amusements may be 
good or bad, independent of commercial management, 
and also that commercial management is apparently 
necessary and valuable in great portions of the amuse¬ 
ment field. Yet it is equally important to ask if the 
amusement situation is not now* widely dominated by a 
type of commercial management which has no regard for 
art, spontaneity, or the basic demands of morality. Miss 
Addams goes so far as to write: 

“Since the soldiers of Cromwell shut up the people’s play¬ 
houses and destroyed their pleasure fields, the Anglo-Saxon 
city has turned over the provision for public recreation to the 
most evil-minded and the most unscrupulous members of the 
community. * * *” 3 


Jane Addams, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets, p. 7. 

[15] 






It lias been demonstrated in the recent reports of vice 
investigations in large cities, such as New York, Chicago 
and Philadelphia, that commercial amusement enter¬ 
prises line both sides of the broad way that leads to the 
underworld. The Philadelphia Vice Report, for ex¬ 
ample, declares that: 

“Many public dance halls, moving picture shows, and other 
amusement centers are breeding-places of vice—the rendezvous 
of men who entrap girls and of girls who solicit men. Veri¬ 
table orgies are described as transpiring in some of the clubs. 
The proprietors of these places are known to abet these vici¬ 
ous practices, and, in many cases, to derive large revenue 
from them.” 4 - 

The Chicago Vice Report says: 

“The investigation of dance halls, cheap theaters, amusement 
parks, and lake steamers, shows that these places are sur¬ 
rounded by vicious dangers which result in sending many 
young girls into lives of immorality.” 5 

Great sections of the amusement problem are found, 
in fact, to overlap the vice problem, and to form one 
great series of exploitations by which the vicious and 
criminal prey upon the innocent, prostituting the na¬ 
tural instinct of pleasure, and degrading vast numbers 
of young people into the life of shame,— ‘ confusing joy 
with lust and gaiety with debauchery . 17 

Julia Schoenfeld summarizes her impressions of 
an investigation of New York conditions as follows: 

“It was discouraging after many weeks of going about to 
see the same characteristics, the same pitfalls, the same snares 
for all. Young girls do not willingly walk into danger. Girls 
are everywhere and danger lurks everywhere. Girls from good 
homes, girls who live in boarding houses, girls from the tene¬ 
ments, girls who must content themselves in hall bedrooms, 

4 Report of the Vice Commission of Philadelphia , p. 21, 

** Z'/tc Social fjoil in Chicago , p. 246. 

m 



girls of all ages, all in the mad pursuit of pleasure, running 
headlong into danger, having their moral senses blunted—all 
because the people of New York are willing to let any kind of 
amusement exist under any condition, are willing to sit by and 
let politicians graft. By their very indifference to public wel¬ 
fare they are helping along the great curse that is besetting the 
American public today,—the Social Evil.” 8 

A significant chart of moral values is presented in the 
Kansas City Survey of Commercial Recreation, by Fred 
F. McClure. 

“After noting the maturity and impressionability of the at¬ 
tendants at various kinds of commercial amusements, and list¬ 
ing carefully the objectionable features of each kind, the fol¬ 
lowing rating of the different kinds of amusements in propor¬ 
tion to their moral worth is submitted as representing an opin¬ 
ion based on very careful study: 


Motion picture shows. 

.79 

per 

cent good 

Theaters . 

.72 


it 

a 

Dance halls. 

.23.1 

it 

it 

a 

River excursion boats...... 

. 7.7 


it 

tt 

Pool halls. 

.46.2 

it 

tt 

a 

Skating rinks. 


a 

it 

a 

Penny arcades. 

.38.5 


tt 

tt 

Shows—“Men only”. 

. 0 

a 

tt 

it 

Shooting galleries. 

.84.7 

a 

it 


Bowling alleys. 

.77.1 


it 

a 

Amusement parks. 

.71.1 

a 

tt 

a 


Medical museums, social clubs, wine gardens, chopsuey res¬ 
taurants, and saloons are not graded. They would undoubt¬ 
edly lower the average of good, wholesome recreation. The 
totals show wholesome amusement 68 per cent, bad 32 per 
cent. The 32 per cent consists of intemperance, obscenity, 
suggestions of crime, dissipation, late hours, representing an 
expenditure of $1,923,211.99.” 7 

e From an unpublished report on amusement resorts by Julia Schoep* 
feld. 

7 Recreation Survey of Kansas City, p. 73. 

2 [17] 
























Among the many influences at work today in shaping 
the actual morality of young people, none is more immed¬ 
iate, more puzzling, or more significant than the influ¬ 
ence of their amusement life. The Recreation Survey 
of Montclair, N. J., for example, shows that “by analysis 
of cases, two thirds of the juvenile delinquency in Mont¬ 
clair has been traced to faulty recreative conditions. * ’ We 
shall give the. moral issues involved in the problem a 
large consideration throughout our study. 


Causes 

What are the deep, underlying causes of the amuse¬ 
ment situation in America today ? Why is enthusiasm for 
wholesome recreation not universal ? Why are the sugges¬ 
tive play and the sensual dance so alluring? Has human 
nature begun to break down in the face of the unre¬ 
strained commercialism in amusements? Why has the 
love of spontaneous play given way so largely to the love 
of merely being amused? Why is it that “a considerable 
section of our people are poor in play and rich in vice?” 
Why do we forget that “recreation is stronger than 
vice, and that recreation alone can stifle the lust for 
vice?” We will be meditating upon such questions as 
these while we pursue our study. 

What relation have working conditions in America to 
the amusement spirit? Do the industries in “our town” 
over-speed and under-pay working men and women to 
the point at which excess is the logical reaction and sen¬ 
sational excitements are sought to stir the blood that is 
infected with the toxin of fatigue? Professor Walter 
Rauschenbush says: 

“The long hours and the Mgh speed and pressure of industry 
use up the vitality of all except the most capable. An ex¬ 
hausted bod t y craves re.st vchange and stimulus, but it re- 


118 ] 


sponds only to coarse and strong stimulation. In all mill 
towns where the long work day is the rule, the night school, 
library, and church languish, and the saloon and house of 
prostitution flourish. Drink and sexual vice are the ready pil¬ 
lows of an exhausted body, the only form of play which degra¬ 
dation knows .” 8 

He further characterizes the work of thousands of 
American working men and women as follows: 

“At the end of the day they have taken so many thousand 
stitches in so many shirts; or they have sewed on a gross of 
buttons; or a bolt of cloth has gone through their hands; that 
is the beginning of it and the end of it for them, and it has no 
further bearing upon them than as a growing sum of losses of 
vitality, of ambition and imagination. * * * This is the 

condition in which thoughtful workingmen feel they are 
placed. They believe that they produce enough to give them 
a margin of leisure for real life, but one extra hour of toil, one 
dollar taken from their wage, a little additional speeding of the 
work, wipes out that margin of time and vitality which makes 
their life free and livable. That margin is God’s country in 
their life, the soil where all the higher instincts and desires 
•are cultivated. Wipe that out, and you leave the brute needs. 
Their resentment is deepened by the knowledge that the extra 
strength taken from them is often turned to useless luxury by 
those who take it. An additional vase or rug in a wealthy wo¬ 
man’s drawing room may add nothing to the real comfort of 
any one; yet it may embody the excess toil of a thousand girls 
for a week. If each girl had been able to retain that addi¬ 
tional fragment of earnings it might have meant an excursion 
on Saturday, a concert, some article of womanly adornment, a 
present to a friend, something to give the feel and joy of life. 
Instead it is bottled up in that vase to which a few satiated 
ladies may say ‘Ah!’” 

Is the work of great numbers of girls at the most play- 
loving period of life so unsuited to them, so mechanical 
and exhausting that they are quite naturally feverish 


8 Walter Rauschenbusch. Christianizing the Social Order, p. 249. 

[ 19 ] 



for excitement at night and ready to take np with any¬ 
one who can “show them a good time”? 

What relation have living conditions in many sections 
of many cities to the amusement situation ? Is it because 
these conditions are so congested and noisy, so unbear¬ 
ably squalid and lacking in all ministration to the sense 
of the beautiful, that great multitudes roam the streets 
ready for any welcome which carries with it light and 
cheer and diversion? How many working girls join the 
throng merely because the lonely hall-bedroom is their 
only home? Do not young men have emotional reac¬ 
tions too? 

Looping the loop/ amid shrieks of simulated terror, or 
dancing in disorderly saloon halls, are, perhaps, the natural re¬ 
actions to a day spent in noisy factories and in trolley cars 
whirling through the distracting streets, but the city which 
permits them to be the acme of pleasure and recreation to its 
young people commits a grievous mistake.” 9 


Are we awake to the meaning of youth? Do we under- 
stand'the spirit of youth and enrich it, or do we merely 
repress it with heavy hand until it is sadly broken, or 
until it breaks away from all control and guidance to 
seek expression in the exploiter’s house? Is not Miss Ad- 
dams at the core of the question when she says of the 
spirit of youth: 


We may cultivate this most precious possession, or we may 
disregard it. We may listen to the young voices rising clear 
above the roar of industrialism and the prudent councils of 
commerce, or we may become hypnotized by the sudden new 
emphasis placed upon wealth and power and forget the suprem¬ 
acy of spiritual forces in men’s affairs. It is as if ioe ianored 

a st ZT 1 ’ ° Ver - Confident creature who walked through our city 
streets calling out, ‘I am the Spirit of Youth! With me all 

things are possible, r We fail to understand what he want’s or 


* Jane Addams, 


The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets t p, 

[ 20 ] 


09 . 



6ven to see his doings, although his acts are pregnant with 
meaning and we may either translate them into a sordid chron¬ 
icle of petty vice or turn them into a solemn school for civic 
righteousness.” 10 


The Problem and Our Approach to It 

The amusement problem is a universal problem, for 
everybody plays at something. Coney Island and the 
Mardi Gras are only glittering exponents of a national 
i passion. No one who has been at a baseball game or 
j a picture show, at a circus or the vaudeville, at a country 
fair or among the children on a city street, can doubt 
that all America believes in amusement. The important 
question is the sort of amusement in which she believes, 
for the sort of play on whieh her attention is focused 
fashions the national character. The relaxations to 
which industrial and living conditions limit the people 
inevitably mould their morals. 

The amusements which prevail among the people sur¬ 
round them with their atmosphere as with a garment. 
It may be an atmosphere of ozone or of noxious gases. 
What amusements recreate the spirit of man? What 
stifle, depress, and degrade him? 

The purpose of our study is to find the answer to these 
questions, to examine the five great groups of amuse¬ 
ments in America today,—dramatic, social rendezvous, 
athletic, special places, and special events. We frankly 
study them as constituting a social problem and take for 
granted in many of them a large percentage of good up¬ 
on which our search for aggravated conditions will leave 
us little time to dwell. At the same time we shall {at¬ 
tempt, without overstatement, to form a sound judgment 
of conditions as they exist in America today. We shall 


10 Jane Addams, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets , p. 161. 
[ 21 ] 




pass from the study of the problem, to an examination 
of the leading movements which point the way to its 
solution, in order that action in “our town” may be 
based upon the successful experience of other commun¬ 
ities. 


Suggestions for Group D.scussion 11 

1 The purpose of this hour is to see that everyone 
is interested in the situation, and to recognize that 
amusements in America have become a serious matter. 
Make clear how this question affects every home in the '■! 
land; that the amusement business is highly organized 
and commercialized, and that many evils find in it a com¬ 
fortable nest in which to hatch their young. These facts 
are to be studied. 

2 Discuss the importance of play. Can it be safely 
dispensed with in a busy life? Is the man who boasts 
that lie hasn’t taken a vacation in twenty years to be 
applauded, or is he a sinner against youth and society ? 
The importance of play will be fully discussed under 
the solutions of the problem, but touched upon here. 

3 Discuss briefly the proper relation of work to play, 
of monotonous mechanical labor and long hours of con- 1 
finement to excesses in alcoholic liquor and vicious 
amusements. 

4 Let the members of the group state, without refer¬ 
ring to the outline, the most popular forms of recreation 
as they have observed them in “our town.” They may 
have some to add to those in this study. Where people 
are present who have lived in various parts of the coun¬ 
try they should present briefly the amusement situation 
as they have observed it. 


11 Suggestions for an outline of study and discussion 
ing 1 the work as a whole are given on page 216. 

[ 22 ] 


cover- 




5 Discuss the local situation with reference to im¬ 
moral influences. Someone may have a story of evil con¬ 
ditions to tell. Jot down this story and prove later by 
investigation whether it presents a fair picture of condi¬ 
tions. 

6 Are amusements in general, and especially vicious 
amusements, demanded to the extent which their pres¬ 
ent provision in many towns would imply, or has the 
business of providing amusement over-stocked the mar¬ 
ket and created an unnatural demand for excitement? 

7 What is the effect upon the moral sensibilities when 
spectators watch performers take hazardous risks in en¬ 
tertaining the crowd? 

8 Of what significance is it that people work in a wide 
variety of forms of labor, that the modern specialization 
of tasks within those forms of labor gives each worker 
a different work life from that of all but a few of his 
fellows? Thus labor has come to be a diversifer of exper¬ 
ience. Do not the people still find their pleasures, how¬ 
ever, in comparatively few ways? Have the most popular 
forms of amusement thus become remarkable unifiers of 
experience? What extraordinary significance does this 
fact lend to the artistic and moral character of the most 
popular forms of amusement? 

9 The attention of each person to whom a topic is as¬ 
signed should be called to the fact that three points of 
interest should be met by his presentation—Extent, 
Characteristics, and Moral Influence. Note this three¬ 
fold division in each chapter of the text dealing with the 
problem. 

10 The group will discover the limits which have been 
set by the author at different points as boundaries and 
divisions of the problem. They should recognize from 
the beginning that matters which do not bear directly 
upon the immediate subject should not be introduced. 

[23] 


The leader will do well to limit the discussion at each 
meeting strictly to the topic in hand or to points which 
have been made in previous meetings. 

11 For further material upon the amusement situa¬ 
tion in general, see pages 125, 205. 


Bibliography 

The book and periodical references which follow under each 
heading are a selected list intended for popular use. Many 
references cover related subjects in addition to the o '* under 
which they are listed. Book references should be kept, ■t» to 
date by consulting the Book Review Digest, and the A. L. A. 
Booklist. Ne\v magazine articles are listed in the Readers' 
Guide to Periodical Literature. These may be found at any 
public library. There are a number of magazines especially 
devoted to different phases of amusement which have not been 
listed. They may well be consulted for side lights on the 
problem. 


The Amusement Situation in General 

Books 

Addams, Jane. The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets. Mac¬ 
millan, New York City, 1909. $1.25. 

A mature statement of the problem of public recreation 
in American city life. 

Bliss, W. D. P. ed. New Encyclopedia of Social Reform. Funk 

1908. $7.50. 

Contains articles on many phases of the problem. 
Brittanica Year Book 1913. The Encyclopedia Brittanica com- 
pany, New York City, 1913. $2.25. See articles on sports 

and games, pp. 445-471; sport in the United States, pp. 
472-474. 

Valuable resum£ of conditions in various sports. Re¬ 
ference is made to articles in the eleventh edition of the 
Encyclopaedia Brittanica which should also be freely con¬ 
sulted on all phases of the problem. 

Chicago Vice Commission. The Social Evil in Chicago. Chicago 

Vice Commission, 1911. Republished by the Vice Commis¬ 
sion of Chicago, Inc. for distribution by the American Vigi¬ 
lance Association, 105 West Monroe St. Distributed to re¬ 
sponsible persons who send 50c. in stamps to cover cost. 

This report lays bare some of the prevalent amusements 
of Chicago on their worst sides. 


[ 24 ] 


Collier, John and Barrows, E. M. The City Where Crime is Play. 

The Peoples Institute, New York City, January, 1914. 10c. 

A valuable report on play in New York containing- re¬ 
cent discussion of commercial recreation. 

Davis, M. M., Jr. The Exploitation of Pleasure: a study of 
commercial recreations in New York City, N. Y. Russell 
Sage Foundation, 2911. 10c. 

An important document setting forth conditions in New 
York City. 

Hanmer, L. F. and Knight, H. R. Sources of Information on’ 
Recreation. Department of Recreation, Russell Sage Foun¬ 
dation, 130 E. 22nd St,, New York City. 10c. 

The latest bibliography on the subject. Should be freely 
consulted on all topics. 

Haynes, Rowland. Detroit Recreation Survey, March and April, 
1913, The Detroit Board of Commerce. Free distribution. 

A comprehensive survey of conditions in Detroit, with 
recommendations. 

Haynes, Rowland. How a Community may Find Out and Plan 
for its Recreation Needs. National Education Association 
book, 1912. 

Haynes, Rowland. Recreation Survey. Milwaukee, Bureau of 
Economy and Efficiency, 1911. Also published in The Play¬ 
ground, May, 1912, v. 6, no. 2. 

A careful study, of the amusement situation in Milwau¬ 
kee. 

Haynes, Rowland and McClure, F. F. Recreation Surveys of 
Kansas City, Mo. Second annual report of the recreation 
department of the Board of Welfare, April, 1911—April, 
1912. 

A comprehensive report upon conditions in Kansas City 
with recommendations. 

Hartt, R. L. The People at Play. Houghton, 1909. $1.50 

Studies of amusements. 

Israels, B. L. Recreation in Rural Communities. National Con¬ 
ference of Charities and Correction, Proceedings 1911, pp. 
103-107. 

Kneeland, G. J. Commercialized Prostitution in New York 
City. Century Company, 1913. 

The authoritative work on the subject. See index for 
amusement institutions and their relation to vice. 

North, F. R. Indianapolis Recreation Survey, March, 1914. 
Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. 

Describes conditions with recommendations. 

North, F. R. Recreation Survey of the city of Providence, R. I. 

November and December, 1912. Providence Playground 
Association. 

Describes conditions in Providence and makes recom¬ 
mendations. 




[ 25 ] 



Patten, S. N. Product and Climax. Huebsch, New York, 1909. 

50c. 

A stimulating discussion of the amusement situation. 
Fublic Recreation, Transactions of the Commonwealth Club of | 
California, San Francisco, June, 1913. v. VIII, no. 5. 

A comprehensive presentation of the problem in San |i 
Francisco with recommendations. 

Report and Recommendations of Morals Efficiency Commission, | 

Pittsburgh, Pa., 1913. Apply to the Commission. 

Report of the Hartford Vice Commission, Hartford, Conn. July, j 

1913. Apply to the Commission. 

Report of the Philadelphia Vice Commission. Philadelphia, Pa. jj 

1913. Apply to the Commission. 

Report of th$ Portland Vice Commission to the Mayor and City i 
Council of the City of Portland, Oregon. January, 1913. \ 
Apply to the Commission. 

Robinson, H. P. Peoples at Play (in his Twentieth Century j 
American). Putnam, 1908. pp. 408-428. $1.75. 

Russell Sage Foundation—Division of Recreation. Recreation 
Bibliography. Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 1912. j| 
10c. 

Important books, reports and magazine articles are listed 'i 
in this bibliography. 

The Social Evil in Syracuse, N. Y. Being the report of an in- I 
vestigation of the moral condition of the city, conducted by I 1 
a committee of eighteen citizens, 1913. Apply to the Moral : 
Survey Committee. 

Third Annual Report of the Recreation Department of the Board 
of Public Welfare. Kansas City, Mo., April 15, 1912-April , 
21, 1913. 


Periodicals 

Addams, Jane. Some Reflections on the Failure of the Modern 
City to Provide Recreation for Young Girls. Charities and I 

the Commons, December 5, 1908, v. 21, pp. 365-368. 

The temptations open to young girls in the city and the 
need of healthy amusements. 

Amusement as a Factor in Man’s Spiritual Uplift. Current Lit¬ 
erature, August, 1909, v. 47, pp. 185-188. 

Pointed presentation of some interesting contrasts in 
American amusements and occupations. Selections are 
given from S. M. Patten’s “Product and Climax.” 

Braucher, Howard. Play and Social Progress. Annals of the 

American Academy, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 325-333. 

Reveals intimate knowledge of people’s needs. 

Fortunes for Entertainments, The New York Times, September 
7, 1913, part 7, p. 1. 

Broad estimates on dramatic amusement totals of cost. 
[26] 




Haynes, Rowland. Making a Recreation Survey. Playground, 
1913. v. 7, pp. 18-25. 

Mallery, O. T. The Social Significance of Play. Annals of the 
American Academy. March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 368-373. 

Reppelier, A. Our Loss of Nerve. Atlantic, September, 1913. 
v. 112, pp. 298-304. 

Amusement weakenings. 

Russell, Ernest. People at Play: holidays by land and sea. 
Collier, August 14, 1909, v. 43, pp. 14-15. 

Describes recreations of the people. 

Sherlock, C. R. Risking Life for Entertainment. Cosmopolitan, 

October, 1903, v. 35, pp. 613-626. 

Illustrated account of risks incurred by performers. 

Stelzle, Charles. How 1000 Working Men Spend their Spare 
Time. Outlook, April 4, 1914, v. 106, pp. 762-766. 

Sets forth results of an investigation. 

Survey of a City’s Fun. Survey, April 20, 1912, v. 28, p. 127. 
Proposed survey of San Francisco amusement enter¬ 
prises. 

The Survey. A Magazine of Social Reconstruction. Survey As¬ 
sociates, Inc. 105 E. 22nd Street, New York City. 
(Weekly). $3.00 a year. 

An illustrated magazine representing the highest stand¬ 
ards in social work. Indispensable to all who are inter¬ 
ested in the solution of this and kindred problems. 


II The Dramatic Group of Amusements 

The first group of amusements to be studied is the 
dramatic group. Under this general head may be clas¬ 
sified : serious drama, melodrama, musical comedy, farce 
and burlesque, vaudeville, motion pictures, and a few 
others. They all have this in common, that they involve 
some sort of dramatic representation before an audience. 
Attention is invited to the scene presented, and with 
them all “the play’s the thing.” 

Extent 

The numbers of playhouses, the total attendances and 
moneys invested or expended in dramatic amusement of¬ 
ferings the country over can be estimated only in a most 
general way, if at all. 


[ 27 ] 



The New York Times in an article entitled “Fortunes 
for Entertainments ’ is authority for the following 
statements: 

“It is estimated in round figures that the American public 
pays between twenty-five and thirty millions of dollars annu¬ 
ally for theatrical amusements. The enterprise which is re¬ 
sponsible for this enormous expenditure represents an invested 
capital of more than four times this amount of money. At 
least $120,000,000 is represented in theatrical investments in 
the United States.” 

A list of the principal cities with the number of thea 
ters included in each is given (obviously excluding mo 
tion picture houses) with the following conclusion: 

“Compile these figures and there is an aggregate of 2,97.' 
theaters which get regular bookings. A conservative estimat 
of theaters of all kinds in the United States, large and small 
would be 3,000.” . 

Computations of costs arc then given and lead to thb 
conclusion: 

“We arrive at an approximate grand total of $45,000,000 in 
vested in theater properties. This sum represents only the 
one item of permanent investment. An expenditure of double 
this amount is necessary to run the theaters.” 12 

The following more careful estimates from recreation 
surveys indicate something of the popularity of dramatic 
amusements in various cities. 

Milwaukee, a city of 373,857 population, is reported to 
have sixty-two playhouses, with a total capacity of 42,- 
232, and an average weekly attendance of 349,673. 

The Recreation Survey of Milwaukee indicates that: 

“Between eight and nine o’clock on either Saturday or Sun¬ 
day evenings all the theaters are open, vaudeville houses are in 
the middle of their first evening performances, and the moving 

12 New York Times , Sept. 7, 1913, part 7, p. 1. 

[28] 





* picture shows are getting the largest percentage of their attend- 

I ance. At this hour it is safe to say 37,875 people are in attend¬ 
ance at some performance of this kind at one time. This em¬ 
phasizes two things: First, the popular hour for social enter¬ 
tainment; and second, the very considerable part played in the 
recreation life of the city by this type of amusements. 

Detroit, a city of 465,756 population, is estimated in its 
Recreation Survey to have: 

i ( “In all the theaters and moving picture houses * * * a 

■ total average weekly attendance of 547,409, seventy-three per 
, |:ent of which is in the moving picture houses, * * * , a 
dumber equal to the entire population of the city of Detroit.” 


I -< 


• popu 
& 


Kansas City, in its Recreation Survey, is estimated to 
^iiave an average weekly attendance of 554,064 at thea¬ 
ters and motion picture houses, the average at motion 
picture shows alone being 449,064, or almost twice the 
population of the city. It is noteworthy that Kansas 
shows one half or more of these attending various 
forms of dramatic amusement to be between 15 and 25 
years of age. 

Providence, a city of 224,326 population, is estimated 
to have an average weekly attendance of young people 
.under 25 years of age at moving pictures and theaters 
of 43,500, nearly three times the number attending any 
other form of indoor amusement. 

Richmond, Ya., a city of 127,628 population, in May, 
j 4 912, according to its Recreation Survey showed an at¬ 
tendance at theaters and motion picture shows equal to 
( about half the population of the city. 

L Similarly Indianapolis in January-March, 1914, with 
[r a population now estimated at 265,000, showed an esti¬ 
mated attendance at dramatic amusements of 420,780, of 
which 320,527 w r as at motion pictures. 

The study of the characteristics and morals of dramatic 


amusements should be made in connection with each 


[ 29 ] 




type in the following chapters. The following charac¬ 
terization from San Francisco is in some respects typical | 
of the moral issue. 

“We find throughout all the theaters, from burlesque to legit¬ 
imate, a clearly perceptible factor of sensuousness and vul¬ 
garity. The people blame the management, but they go. The 
management admits the vulgarity but pleads the demand of 
the people. This demand cannot be denied. When we find 
musical comedy playing to thirty-two per cent of the capacity ) 
of all the standard houses, it is not a whim of the management. 
But we also find the management not only supplies the de -1 
mand, it stimulates and helps to increase it. It plays down | 
even more than is necessary from the box-office.” 13 


Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 The size of the show going public in each town is im- | 
portant to determine. A member of the group should re- | 
port a careful estimate. A method for the determination 
of this total in the larger cities will be found in the Do ; 
troit, Indianapolis, or other recreation surveys. 

2 What conclusions as to the significance of dramatic 
amusements do you draw from the fact that the theaters j 
continue to play to large audiences in times of financial j 
depression? How do you account for this? 

3 It should be noted that each general subject, such 
as, The Dramatic Group, is treated in four different i 
places, i. e., under: 

1 The Problem (as here) 

2 Restrictive Public Opinion (page 138 and fol- 

ing.) 

3 Constructive Public Opinion (page 153 and 

following.) 

4 Suggestions for Community action (page 205 

and following.) 

13 Transactions of the Commonwealth Cluh of California. Public 
Recreation, p. 246. 


[ 30 ] 







Cross references are given under each section of the 
problem to the pages where the other sections may be 
found. Further material upon the dramatic group will 
be found upon pages 141, 162, 209. 


Bibliography 


The Dramatic Group of Amusements 

Books 

Reference should be made throughout the study of the dra¬ 
matic group to the recreation surveys and reports listed under 

The Amusement Situation in General. 

Addams, Jane. House of Dreams in The Spirit of Youth and 
the City Streets, 1910, p. 75-103. Macmillan, $1.25. 

Theaters and moving picture shows have great influence 
in forming the ideals of the youth bf the city. 

Bowen, L. DeK. Five and Ten Cent Theaters. Chicago Juve¬ 
nile Protective Association. Report of investigations in 
1909-10. 

Grau, Robert. The Stage in the 20th Century, v. 3, Broadway 
Publishing Co., New York, 1912. $5. 

A remarkably full and intimate discussion of the prob¬ 
lems of the theater, including motion pictures. 

Herts, A. M. Dramatic Instinct—Its Use and Misuse. Reprint 
from the Pedagogical Seminary, December, 1908, v. 15, pp. 
550-562. 

A careful statement of the instinctive basis of drama. 


1 SERIOUS DRAMA 
Extent 

Serious drama has come to receive a surprisingly small 
percentage of the actual attendance of the show going 
public. Of the sixty-two playhouses in Milwaukee, only 
three are devoted to drama as “ legitimate ” theaters, and 
they reach only 6.3 per cent of the show going public. 
The Kansas City Survey shows similarly that serious 
drama in that city reaches only 5.1 per cent of the show 


[ 31 ] 



going public. The corresponding figure for Detroit is 
5.2 per cent, and for San Francisco 6 per cent. The in¬ 
fluence'of serious drama in the national life, however, is 
much greater than these figures would indicate, for the 
educational value of good plays carries far, and the 
standards of serious drama affect other phases of dra¬ 
matic production. 


Characteristics 

Serious drama, defined as “a sincere portrayal of life 
by imitation in action/’ answers as a fine art to a per¬ 
sistent human interest, an interest in the meaning of the 
human story with its varied motives, characters and con¬ 
ditions. It has a dignity and quality which none of the 
other amusement features of this group possesses, for 
it depends upon a play which is a representation of life, 
upon actors who possess some measure of artistic shill, 
and upon an audience which has at least some degree of 
serious interest. 

The purpose of drama is primarily to give recreation 
in the full sense of the word, and it achieves its purpose 
in either tragedy or comedy by the effective substitution 
of the world of imagination presented on the stage for 
the matter-of-fact worlds in which the members of the 
audience live. It releases them in flight beyond the 
stern borders to which life has brought them, and thrills 
them with some bit of the human story which might be 
their own. 

There is much discussion concerning the degree to 
which serious drama is and should be educational. 
Do the motives pictured in the world of the stage operate 
in the work-a-day worlds of the audience? Should the 
playwright seek to make them educate thus by giving a 
message? Viewpoints vary widely on these questions, 


[ 32 ] 






but it is dear that drama may have a profoundly edu¬ 
cational effect. In the modern social drama 
“ * * * the individual is displayed in conflict with his en¬ 

vironment and the drama deals with the mighty war between 
personal character and social conditions. The Greek hero strug¬ 
gles with the superhuman; the Elizabethan hero struggles with 
himself; the modern hero struggles with the world.” “The 
relation between the one and the many, in politics, in religion, 
in the daily round of life itself has been and still is the most 
important topic of our times.” 14 

This relation is the subject matter of the modern so¬ 
cial drama, reflecting the social interest of the times. 
The social outcast of any sort, and the unconventional 
person become, therefore, highly dramatic material. 

Morals 

The morality of serious modern drama is widely dis¬ 
cussed. It is indisputable that dramatic representa¬ 
tions may have a positive moral influence of the first or¬ 
der. Serious drama, as we know it, was born within the 
church in the miracle plays, and has often served the 
cause of morality in the highest degree. It is manifest, 
on the other hand, that it can exercise a profoundly im¬ 
moral influence, and has often done so. No generaliza¬ 
tion on the moral influence of the drama as a whole is of 
any value. Discriminating criticism is needed to estab¬ 
lish the truth in each instance. Furthermore, serious 
drama in America varies so widely as to moral tone, and 
there are so many conceptions of what it is that makes 
a play “immoral,” that no wholesale generalization on 
the morality of the serious drama as it is in America to¬ 
day avails anything. Here also discriminating criticism 
is necessary. 

14 Clayton Hamilton, Theory of the Theater , p. 137. 

3 [33] 



What makes a play immoral? Is it the subject matter 
which the dramatist presents, the treatment of the sub¬ 
ject matter by the dramatist, or the presentation of the 
play by the manager and actors? May or may not im¬ 
morality be present in any one of the three? A leading 
dramatic critic writes: 

“To either condemn or defend the morality of any work or 
art because of its material alone, is merely a waste of words. 
There is no such thing per se as an immoral subject for a play: 
in the treatment of the subject, and only in the treatment, lies 
the basis for an ethical judgment of the piece. * * * The 

only way in which a play may be immoral is for it to cloud, in 
the spectator, the consciousness of those invariable laws of life 
which say to man ‘Thou shalt not;’ or ‘Thou shalt.’ * * * 

The one thing needful in order that a drama may be moral is 
that the author shall maintain throughout the piece a sane and 
truthful insight into the soundness or unsoundness of the rela¬ 
tion between his characters. He must know when they are 
right and when they are wrong, and must make clear to the 
audience the reasons for his judgments. * * * Whenever, 

then, it becomes important to determine whether a new play 
of the modern social type is moral or immoral, the critic should 
decide first, whether the author tells lies specifically about any 
of the people in his story, and, second, provided that the play¬ 
wright passes the first test successfully, whether he allures the 
audience to generalize falsely in regard to life at large from 
the specific circumstances of his play. These two questions are 
the only ones that need to be decided.” 15 

Whether or not this statement covers the whole of the 
question, it is beyond doubt that this fundamental im¬ 
morality of treatment exists in many of the plays pre¬ 
sented as serious drama. A large proportion of the plays 
brought out each year, representing as they do that 
which is momentarily effective rather than that which 
is fundamentally true, are written with no sincere dra¬ 
matic purpose. They portray the results of human ac- 


15 Clayton Hamilton, in his Theory of the Theater, pp. 144, 148-9. 

[ 34 ] 





tion, not as those results work out in life, but as the play¬ 
wright fancies to portray them for the sake of theatric 
effect. This means that there are many in which lies are 
told about the people in the story, and which by care¬ 
lessness or intention lure the audience to generalize false¬ 
ly in regard to life as a whole. 

Prevalent discussion of the morals of modern drama 
exerts itself fully as much with the choice of subject mat¬ 
ter as with the immoralities of treatment indicated above. 
Whether or no this is theoretically correct from the art¬ 
ist’s viewpoint, there is widespread criticism of the 
“broadening license allowed to the drama of sexuality,” 
the large presentation of sex relations, especially irreg¬ 
ular relations—the life of the courtesan and the prosti¬ 
tute. Opinions vary widely on the issue whether this 
dramatic emphasis merely reflects or helps to create and 
intensify the acute and morbid sex conciousness of to¬ 
day. There are many who ask how it is possible to hold 
guiltless those dramatists who help to focus and hold 
public attention upon this type of subject matter. If the 
normal mind instinctively refuses to dwell long upon 
these subjects, is it not a fair demand of the normal pub¬ 
lic that other phases of life more wholesome and no less 
dramatic be chosen? May it not be that an increasing 
knowledge of the consequences of the prevalent sex stim¬ 
ulation in our theaters may alter the a priori generaliza¬ 
tion that “there is no such thing per se as an immoral 
subject for a play”? Might not an increasing apprecia¬ 
tion of the physiological psychology of sex make the pre¬ 
sentation of certain sex facts wholly valid exceptions to 
this principle? S. H. Adams, in discussing Salome 
as “a slightly disguised piece of abnormal sensuality,” 
speaks to the point when he says, ‘ ‘ This sort of thing can 
only be normal in a world made up of lecherous minded 


[ 35 ] 



people, a world in which such ideas and motives being 
natural to the mass are proper subjects for art.” 18 

The essential principle set forth by G. K. Chester¬ 
ton in discussing the criminal operation in Waste seems 
to get near the root of the truth, and to be capable oif 
extension to no small amount of the subject matter of 
modern drama. He says: 

“Here I think the whole argument might he sufficiently 
cleared up by saying that the objection to such things on the 
stage is a purely artistic objection. There is nothing wrong in 
talking about an illegal operation; there are plenty of occa¬ 
sions when it would be very wrong not to talk about it. But 
it may be easily just a shade too ugly for the shape of any work 
of art. There is nothing wrong about being sick; but if Ber¬ 
nard Shaw wrote a play in which all the characters expressed 
their dislike of animal food by vomiting on the stage, I think 
we should be justified in saying that the thing was outside, not 
the laws of morality, but the framework of civilized literature. 
The instinctive movement of repulsion which everyone has 
when hearing of the operation in Waste, is not an ethical re¬ 
pulsion at all. But it is an aesthetic repulsion, and a right 
one.” 17 

Beyond this, however, the question of what is valid 
subject matter for drama apparently can not be answered 
solely upon artistic grounds, even though certain bodies 
of subject matter may be successfully ruled out on that 
basis. 

Here, as elsewhere, we are coming into an increasing 
sense of the value of the social reference. Artistic dog¬ 
matism is out of place here as moral dogmatism. The 
social consequences of any art, especially an art so pure¬ 
ly social as drama, can no longer be ignored, for the voice 


18 S. H. Adams, Indecent Stage. American Magazine, May, 1909, v. 
68, pp. 41-47. 

17 G. K. Chesterton, George Bernard Shaw , pp. 140-141. 


[ 36 ] 




of the common weal has, after all, the final right to be 
heard. 

Hugo Muensterberg brings the social reference to bear 
upon “red light drama” in the following paragraphs of 
far reaching truth: 

“To strengthen this instinctive emotion of mysterious re¬ 
spect which makes the young mind shrink from brutal intru¬ 
sion will remain the wisest policy as long as we cannot change 
that automatic mechanism of human nature by which the sex¬ 
ual thought stimulates the sexual organs. 

“A nation which tries to lift its sexual morality by dragging 
the sexual problems to the street for the inspection of the crowd 
without shyness and without shame, and which wilfully makes 
them objects of gossip and stage entertainment, is doing worse 
than Munchausen when he tried to lift himself by his scalp. 

“It seems less important that the youth learn the secrets of 
sexual intercourse than that their teachers and guardians learn 
the elements of physiological psychology.” 18 

John Galsworthy puts positively that quality of life 
which many lovers of art desire to see enter more largely 
into the making of our modern drama, when he says: 

“It is certain that to the making of good drama, as to the 
practice of every other art, there must be brought an almost 
passionate love of discipline, a white heat of self-respect, a de¬ 
sire to make the truest, fairest, best thing in one’s power; and 
that to these must be added an eye that does not flinch. Such 
qualities alone will bring to a drama the selfless character 
which soaks it with inevitability.” 19 

Jane Addams in writing of the morals of the stage 
as a whole, emphasizes the intense significance of the 
question, and says with prophetic foresight: 

“There is no doubt that we are at the beginning of a period 
when the stage is becoming the most successful popular teacher 
in public morals. Many times the perplexed hero reminds one 
of Emerson’s description of Margaret Fuller, ‘I do not know 


18 Hugo Muensterberg. New York Times September, 14, 1913, p. 4. 
i® John Galsworthy, The Inn of Tranquility, p. 192. 

[ 37 ] 



where I am going, follow me;’ but nevertheless, the stage is 
dealing with these moral themes in which the public is inter¬ 
ested. * * * While many young people and older ones as 

well go to the theater, if only to see represented and hear dis¬ 
cussed the themes which seem to them so tragically important, 
there is no doubt that what they hear there, flimsy and poor as 
it often is, easily becomes their actual moral guide. In mo¬ 
ments of moral crisis they turn to the sayings of the hero who 
found himself in a similar plight. The sayings may not be 
profound, but they are at least applicable to conduct. It 
would be a striking result if the teachings of the contempora¬ 
neous stage should at last afford the moral platform upon 
which the various members of the community would unite for 
common action in matters of social reform.” 20 


Suggestions for Group Discussion 

Serious drama as we have it in America today raises 
many subjects for discussion: 

1 Do all members of the group agree that drama is a 
fine art and has a large and legitimate place in human 
interest ? 

2 A member of the group should give a brief paper, 
distinguishing sharply between the characteristics of 
tragedy, comedy, farce, melodrama, burlesque, vaude¬ 
ville, and motion pictures. 

3 Has the modern social drama as we have seen it in 

our town 5 ’ done harm by its presentation of the social¬ 
ly outcast as its subject matter, or has more harm been 
done by the way in which these matters have been pre¬ 
sented ? 

4 What is it that makes a play immoral 1 ? A member 
of the group should present a brief paper on this ques¬ 
tion. Ample references from all points of view will be 
found in the bibliography. 

20 Jane Addams in The Survey, April 3, 1909. 


[ 38 ] 





5 Discuss grand opera in its relations to the questions 
raised here. 

6 Groups may well observe the moral atmosphere 
which surrounds and pervades the theater in their town. 
Is the theater well managed and the atmosphere whole¬ 
some ? The manager might be invited to present the prob¬ 
lems of the drama as he sees them from the business 
point of view. 

7 The group should watch the effect of the theater up¬ 
on those who’attend habitually. To what degree does 
it seem to provide genuine recreation and happiness? 
Does it lead in cases of excessive attendance to a loss of 
good perspective on life, to extravagant expenditure, to 
theatrical poses, or other false attitudes ? 

8, In this discussion, the group should stick to the sin¬ 
gle topic of ‘ ‘ legitimate ’ * drama. The discussion of other 
phases of dramatic amusement should await their turn. 

9 Further material upon serious drama will be found 
upon pages 141, 162, 166. 




Bibliography 


Serious Drama 

Books 

Burton, R. E. New American Drama. Crowell, 1913. $1.25 

Caffin, C. H. The Appreciation of the Drama. Baker, 1908. 
$1.50. 

Interesting discussion of the stage, the actor, the play, 
the material of the drama, etc. 

Eaton, W. P. American Stage of Today. Small, 1908. $1.50. 

Largely descriptive of plays and actors, but indicative 
of the general trend of the theater. 

Eaton, W. P. At the New Theater and Others. Small, Boston, 
1910. $1.50. 

A survey of the American stage during the two seasons 
of 1908. 

Hamilton, Clayton. Theory of the Theater. Holt, 1910. $1.50. 

Able discussion of fundamental principles in dramatic- 
art 


[ 39 ] 




Mackaye, Percy. The Playhouse and the Play. Macmillan, 

1909. $1.25. 

A series of addresses covering - the theater and democ¬ 
racy in America. 

Matthews, Brander. Study of the Drama. Houghton, 1911. 
$1.25. 

“The most suggestive and serviceable book concerning 
the technique of the drama.” Drama, February, 1911. 

Moses, M. J. The American Dramatist. Little, 1911. $2.50. 

The mass of data on American drama here presented for 
the first time in a single volume constitutes the book’s 
chief value.” A. L. A. Booklist. 

Price, W. T. Analysis of Play Construction and Dramatic Prin¬ 
ciple. W. T. Price, New York, 1908. $5. ' 

A comprehensive discussion of the technical principles \ 
of dramatic art. 

Winter, William. The Press and the Stage. 1899. $1.50. 

An oration of permanent value. 

Wister, Owen. Subjects Fit for Fiction. In American Library 
Association papers and proceedings, 1906, pp. 20-24. 

A discussion upon morals in fiction which is applicable 
by analogy to the drama. 

Woodbridge, Elizabeth. The Drama, its Law and its Technique. 

Allyn, Boston, 1905. 80c. 

A brief handbook on dramatic principles. 


Periodicals 

Adams, H. S. Indecent Stage. American Magazine, May, 1909, 
v. 68, pp. 41-47. 

Discusses stage tendencies and individual plays with 
their effect on the audience. 

An Ominous Sign of the Times. Outlook, September, 1913, v. 
105, pp. 68-70. 

The failure to represent vice as repulsive as it is. 

A Vicious Use of Frankness. Independent, September 11, 1913, 
v. 75, pp. 604-605. 

Discusses plays offensive for their presentation of vice. 

Belasco, David. Playwright and the Box Office. Century, Oc¬ 
tober, 1912, v. 84, pp. 883-890. 

Interprets the box office point of view. 

Bernhardt, Sarah. Moral Influence of the Theater. Current 

Literature, February, 1903, v. 34, pp. 172-173. 

Attaches great importance to the moral value of the 
theater as an institution of the people. 

Cohan, G. M. and G. J. Nathan. Mechanics of Emotion. Mc¬ 
Clure, November, 1913, v. 42, pp. 69-77. 

An acute analysis of dramatic effects which produce 
tears, laughs or thrills. 


[ 40 ] 







Dale, Alan. Theater’s Responsibility. Cosmopolitan, July, 1907, 
v. 43, pp. 294-304. 

Immunity of New York public to immoral plays, through 
a constant diet of them. 

Demoralizing Plays. Outlook, September 20, 1913. v. 105, p. 

110 . 

A discriminating editorial. 

Dramatizing Vice. Literary Digest, October 4, 1913; v. 47, pp. 
576-577. 

Groups many varying opinions on the subject. 

Eaten, W. P. Neglect of Stage Management. American Maga¬ 
zine, January, 1911, v. 71, pp. 400-409. 

Much power rests in the hands of the stage manager. 
Eaton, W. P. What is a Good Play? American Magazine, Sep¬ 
tember 12, v. 74, pp. 615-624. 

The basic question of the playwright’s sincerity. 

Eaton, W. P. What is a Moral Play? American Magazine, Feb¬ 
ruary 14, v. 77, pp. 49-52. 

Discusses recent plays. 

Eaton, W. P. What Makes a Bad Play? American Magazine, 
October, 1912, v. 74, pp. 744-753. 

Lack of sincerity and evil tendencies for which it is re¬ 
sponsible. 

Extension of Opera in America. American Magazine, February, 
1910, v. 69, pp. 537-545. 

Forbes-Robertson, James. Theater of Yesterday, Today and To¬ 
morrow. Century, February, 1914, v. 87, pp. 505-510. 
Sound comment. 

Hamilton, Clayton. Emotional Contagion in the Theater. Book¬ 
man, April, 1914, v. 39, pp. 139-147. 

Interprets the susceptibility of the crowd. 

Hamilton, Clayton. Infirmity of Purpose in the Drama. Book¬ 
man, October, 1912., v. 36, pp. 164-175. 

Some fundamental principles. 

Hamilton, Clayton. What is Wrong With the American Drama? 

Bookman, May, 1914, v. 39, pp. 314-319. 

The public does not care to see life represented truly and 
interpreted nobly. 

Hamilton, J. S. Sex-tangled Drama. Everybody's, November, 
1913, v. 29, pp. 676-687. 

Discusses morals of recent plays. 

Kauffman, R. W. Drama and Morality. Forum, May, 1914, v. 

51, pp. 664-672. 

Justifies modern drama. 

Love-making on the Stage. Independent, February 7, 1907, v. 
62, pp. 338-339. 

The unwholesomeness of too much stage love-making. 

Mathews, Brander. The Show Business. Munsey, February, 
1913, v. 48, pp. 734-737. 

Relation of commercial management to dramatic art. 


[ 41 ] 


Moses, M. J. Disintegration of the Theater. Forum, April, 

1911, v. 45, pp. 465-471. 

Moses, M. J. Plays for Parents. Independent, February 6, 1913, 

v. 77, pp. 301-305. 

Interprets recent children's plays. 

Muensterberg, Hugo. Muensterberg Vigorously Denounces Red 
Light Drama. New York Times, September 14, 1913. p. 4. 

A brilliant statement of the problem which has been 
much discussed with widely divided opinion. 

Plays That Make People Think. American Magazine, January, 

1910, v. 69, pp. 409-417. 

Robertson, J. F. A Talk About the Theater. Outlook, Septem¬ 
ber 24, 1910, v. 96, pp. 191-199. 

A mature discussion of the drama. 

Shaw, Mary. My “Immoral” Play. McClure, April, 1912, v. 

38, pp. 684-694. 

An "immoral” play defended by "the leading lady. 
Windsor, Frederick. Boys and the Theater. Atlantic, March, 

1911. v. 108, pp. 350-354. 

Searching questions. 

Winter, William. Shadows of the Stage. Harper’s Weekly, 
September 24, 1910—April 22, 1911. 

A series of fearless articles by a leading dramatic critic. 


2 MELODRAMA, MUSICAL COMEDY, FARCE, 
BURLESQUE 

Along side of serious drama go melodrama, musical 
comedy, farce, and burlesque. These have this in com¬ 
mon, that they lack the serious artistic purpose of drama 
proper. The audiences at these productions are for the 
most part in frivolous mood. 


Extent 

Heavy inroads have been made in the last few years 
into all these types of plays, especially into stage produc¬ 
tions of melodrama, by vaudeville and motion pictures. 
The Milwaukee Survey shows that the showgoing public 
there gives an average weekly attendance of five per cent 
to melodrama, and 6.9 per cent to burlesque. The De- 


[ 42 ] 










troit Survey shows 6.8 per cent at burlesque. Kansas 
City shows 3.5 per cent at melodrama, and 3.6 per cent 
at burlesque theaters. San Francisco shows 3.5 per cent 
at burlesque. It is probable that these percentages are 
an approximate representation of conditions in the coun¬ 
try as a whole. 


Characteristics 

Melodrama, as presented on the stage, or as now large¬ 
ly in motion pictures, is the elemental dramatic expres¬ 
sion for the mass of the people. It shows the common 
life of men in the grip of superior forces, caught in dra¬ 
matic situations, and is especially significant for its wide 
appeal. Melodrama is like tragedy in this: 

“That each exhibits a set of characters struggling vainly to 
avert a predetermined doom; hut in this essential point they 
differ,—that whereas the characters in melodrama are drifted 
to disaster in spite of themselves, the characters in tragedy go 
down to destruction because of themselves. In tragedy the 
characters determine and control the play; in melodrama the 
plot determines and controls the characters. 

“If we turn our attention to the merry-mooded drama, we 
shall discern a similar distinction between comedy and farce. 
A comedy is a humorous play in which the actors dominate the 
action; a farce is a humorous play in which the action dom¬ 
inates the actors.” 21 

Comedy and farce on the American stage have degen¬ 
erated, with rare exceptions, into cheap musical and va¬ 
riety shows of the extravaganza type. They are in no 
sense drama. They are for the most part well charac¬ 
terized as providing “ music thin and chirpy, staging 
gorgeously vulgar—with no touch of poetry or imagina¬ 
tion or reckless romance. ” 

91 Clayton Hamilton, Theory of the Theater , pp. 127-131. 


[ 43 ] 









Burlesque, as its name implies, is a type of theatrical 
representation in which there are incongrous contrasts 
between the subject and the manner of treatment. It 
abounds in parody and grotesque caricatures. Its key¬ 
note is cynicism, and its appeal is to the lowest sense of 
humor. It descends to any degree of vulgarity neces¬ 
sary to get a laugh, and degenerates everywhere into a 
coarse buffoonery suited to the audience to which it 
caters. 

Morals 

The morals of melodrama seem always to be sound at 
heart, however crude and theatric the play may be. Is 
the villian not always done to death and the heroine res¬ 
cued and vindicated? To many jaded theatergoers to¬ 
day, the old-fashioned morals of melodrama seem like 
the lost virtues of their childhood, and it is a fact of deep 
significance that the morals of motion picture plays are 
for the most part the morals of melodrama. 

Cheap musical comedies, gayety and burlesque shows 
ordinarily have as little morals of any sort as the law al¬ 
lows, and frequently less. It is here that immorality in 
dramatic amusements has its chief stronghold. They do 
an incalculable damage to public morality, for their basic 
appeal is directly to the sensual passions. They fre¬ 
quently reek with suggestive songs and dances, vulgar 
jokes, with vile double meanings, and spectacular effects 
which have no other appeal than to sensuality. “A vein 
of appaling vulgarity,” says Israel Zangwill, “runs 
through most of our musical plays and farcical come¬ 
dies .” 22 

Burlesque in New York City has been classified as 


22 Cosmopolitan, v. 38, April, 1914, p. 641. 

[ 44 ] 




“five-sixths demoralizing and one-sixth lowering.” It 
would be difficult to overestimate the moral damage done 
by suggestive “popular” songs which have their origin 
j>| here, are easily memorized, and spread contagiously 
i through all classes of society. 

d The audiences at these shows are for the most part 
tJ fond of vulgarity and help to create the atmosphere in 
j which it thrives. ‘ ‘ They contain an unpleasantly large 
! number of boys between sixteen and eighteen, plus a 
still larger contingent of young men.” 

Robb 0. Bartholomew, in the Report of, the Cen- 
t sorship of Motion Pictures in Cleveland, calls attention 
s to “the appaling amount of harm the cheap vaudeville 
■j and burlesque shows are doing,” and says: 

| “When one sees the hundreds of young men and hoys at 
these performances, and sees the frenzied manner in which 
1 they indicate their approval of the vulgar, he cannot but con- 
! cede that many must here receive the suggestions and impetus 
that lead them into lives wasted in dissipation and profligacy, 
i Recently, in visiting one of the larger burlesque theaters of this 
. city, eighteen boys were seen, twelve of whom were known to 
be under fourteen years of age. These young boys witnessed 
a performance which overflowed from beginning to end with 
insidious suggestions clothed to make immorality appear the 
normal indulgence of the ordinary life. * * * The flashy 

light of sensual pleasures was turned full in their faces, blind- 
; ing their eyes.” 

George J. Kneeland is authority for the following: 

“It may be said that practically all of the women in burlesque 
shows are professional prostitutes. The men in the shows are 
addicted to the lowest forms of degeneracy.” 


[ 45 ] 







Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 Discuss the place and value of melodrama as an ex-, 
pression of the life of the people. Study the typical 
characters found in melodrama, the hero and villian, the 
benevolent old man, the heroine. What basic moral 
qualities are personified? 

2 What are the deep-seated reasons for the degeneracy 
of musical comedy and burlesque? To what extent is this 
due to the character of those who present them? Does 
their presentation by amateurs free them from the taint 
of vulgarity ? Is burlesque inherently bad ? . 

3 Further material dealing with melodrama, musical 
comedy, farce and burlesque will be found on pages 141 
and 209. 

Bibliography 

Melodrama, Musical Comedy, Farce and Burlesque 

Books 

Climax of Melodrama. Current Literature, December, 1912, v. 
53, pp. 690—691. 

Describes a recent spectacular production. 

Davis, M. M. Jr. The Burlesque. In The Exploitation of Pleas¬ 
ure, 1911, p. 31. 

Compare also similar reports. 

Hamilton, Clayton. Melodrama, Old and New. Bookman, May, ( 

1911, v. 33, pp. 309-314. 

An incisive statement of the case. 

Hartt, It. L. The Home of Burlesque. In The People at Play, 

1909, pp. 1-43. 

Hartt, R. L. Melodrama. In The People at Play, 1909. 

Periodicals 

American Girls’ Damaging Influence on the Drama. Current 

Literature, December, 1907, v. 43, p. 673. 

Kingsley, S. C. Penny Arcade and the Cheap Theater. Chari¬ 
ties and the Commons, June 8, 1907, v. 18, pp. 295-297 

[46] 






3 VAUDEVILLE 


Extent 

Vaudeville has next to the largest popularity of all 
forms of dramatic entertainment. Motion pictures alone 
exceed it. The Milwaukee Survey shows that 21.6 per 
cent of the average weekly attendance at all the play¬ 
houses is at vaudeville. Detroit shows 14.9 per cent at 
regular vaudeville, Kansas City 5.1 per cent, San Fran¬ 
cisco 25. per cent. 


Characteristics 

Vaudeville is a straight out effort to entertain the 
public by any dramatic means which comes within its 
grasp. “It may be described as a succession of acts 
whose stimulus depends usually upon an artificial rather 
than upon a natural, human and developing interest, 
these acts having no necessary and as a rule no actual 
connection. ’ ’ 

It has no aim to portray life in serious drama and yet 
it offers playlets and famous scenes from well-known 
plays, sometimes presented by leading actors. It has no 
educational aim, but it uses travel features or education¬ 
al motion pictures whenever a hearing seems likely to be 
accorded. It is not a circus but it displays trained horses, 
dogs, monkeys, clowns and different members of the zoo. 
Its stock attractions are songs and dances, scenic posing, 
monologue and dialogue skits, acrobats and jugglers. It 
is a medly of anything and everything that will “go.” 
The different “acts” may, of course, be genuinely artis¬ 
tic and frequently are so in the better houses. There is 
an occasional act of real wit and cleverness. The music 
is often catchy and recreative. The acrobats and jug 

[ 47 ] 




glers are usually skillful. Taken as a whole, however, 
the country over, vaudeville offerings are for the most 
part cheap and vapid. 

Much has been said in praise of it, but the American |! 
Magazine presents the following characterization of j 
vaudeville’s dramatic effects: 

“The chief indictment against the vaudeville of today con¬ 
sists in this fact, vaudeville has done more to corrupt, vitiate, 
and degrade public taste in matters relating to the stage than 
all other influences put together. Vaudeville audiences * * * 
their minds * * * so long drugged by such a wealth of 

cheap and obvious entertainment,—comic jugglers, who fall 
down stairs in fifty different ways; brazen-voiced singers who j 
bawl about coming home drunk, and others of that ilk,—that 
they had lost the faculty of thinking.” 23 

0 

Morals 

The morals of vaudeville in New York City are thus j 
characterized by the same writer: 

“A somewhat objectionably wide experience with vaudeville ( 
bills has convinced the writer that a vaudeville show, especially 
in ‘first class’ houses, that does not contain at least one number ( 
that is calculated to make a decent woman ashamed of her 
presence in that theater is about as rare as snow in Panama. I 
* * * Nowadays it is anything to get a laugh or a shock. , 
The only limit is what the police will allow, and the police 
apparently draw the line only at indecent physical exhibitions 
on the stage, and not always there. The far more pernicious 
evil of suggestive songs and lewd lascivious jests goes quite I 
unheeded by the authorities .” 24 

It may be open to question whether these words are 
true of the better vaudeville houses generally, the coun¬ 
try over, but it is doubtless a fair characterization of 
the morals of American vaudeville as a whole. 

23 American Magazine, Decay of Vaudeville, v. 69, p. 840. 

21 American Magazine, Decay of Vaudeville , v. 69, pp. 844-846. 

[48] 







The San Francisco Survey indicates that: 

“The song and dance monologue, though well received when 
well done, are least worth while of all the acts. It is in these 
particularly that coarseness and vulgarity creep in. It is to 
be regretted that this vulgarity is enjoyed by a considerable 
number of women * * * though they blush, they applaud.” 

There is general agreement among investigators of 
conditions in motion picture shows that the vaudeville 
acts so frequently put on between the reels are uni¬ 
formly cheap and usually degrading. Of these vaude¬ 
ville acts at picture shows, Robb Bartholomew, in 
the Report of the Censorship of Motion Pictures in 
Cleveland, says: 

“It is impossible to describe in this report the excesses to 
which vaudeville performances are allowed to go in most of 
the theaters where performances are given. There are on file 
several pages of carefully written reports, affidavits and other 
j material describing vaudeville acts which were either sugges¬ 
tive of the immoral, or vulgar and positively indecent. Many 
j verses of different songs have been gathered which would not 
I bear printing in this report. Dancers were often seen who 
endeavored to arouse interest and applause by going through 
vulgar movements of the body.” 

Amateur night performances in commercial theaters 
deserve careful attention. The Chicago Vice Report in¬ 
dicates that: 

“Another immoral feature in connection with the cheap thea¬ 
ter is the amateur nights and conditions back on the stage. 
Workers among delinquent girls testify that these are the in¬ 
fluences that first started many of the girls into immoral lives.” 

Cleveland conditions in this respect are thus des¬ 
cribed : 

“The amateur performances given in many of the motion 
picture theaters should be classed in a different category from 
the regular vaudeville performances. As now conducted they 


4 


[49] 








are in most instances "bad because these young participants 
seek to mimic the vaudeville performers who are most cor¬ 
dially received by the crowds of the theaters. Unfortunatel> 
it is the class that can best portray things suggestive or inde¬ 
cent that are so received by the patrons.” 25 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1. Do you consider vaudeville an enemy of dramatic 
art ? Why ? 

2 Is vaudeville in “our town” a genuine recreation, 
or does it leave tlie audience bored and stale? 

3 Is there any vaudeville house in “our to.wn” from 
which the one or more suggestive acts usually present 
are eliminated? 

4 What is the matter with amateur nights? Whatl 
is the best substitute which avoids their dangers? 

5 Further material dealing with vaudeville will bej 
found on pages 141 and 209. 

Bibliography 

Vaudeville 

Books 

Grau, Robert. The Vaudeville Situation. In The Stage in the' I 
Twentieth Century, Lippincott, 1912. pp. 45-73. 

Periodicals 

Collins, Sewell. Breaking Into Vaudeville. Collier, March 20 J 
1909, v. 49, p. 20. 

Ideas upon the essentials of vaudeville as given by a 
playwright of vaudeville productions. 

Decay of Vaudeville. American Magazine, April, 1910, v. 69, 
pp. 840-848. 

A sharp indictment of vaudeville.' 

M Bartholomew, Report of the Censorship of Motion Pictures, Cleve¬ 
land, p. 15. 









Golden Age of Vaudeville. Current Literature, June, 1907, v. 
42, p. 669. 

interprets vaudeville favorably. 

Swan, Arthur. Vaudevillitis and it Cure. The Drama, Febru¬ 
ary, 1912, no. 5, p. 209-218. 

A trenchant discussion. 

Zangwill, Israel. Future of Vaudeville in America. Cosmopol¬ 
itan, April, 1905, v. 38, pp. 639-646. 

Discusses proper sphere of music halls and their prob¬ 
able future. 


4 MOTION PICTURES 
Extent 

The enormous popularity of motion pictures is, with 
the possible exception of the dance mania, the most 
spectacular single feature of the amusement situation 
m recent years. The Milwaukee Survey shows upon a 
‘ ‘conservative’ * estimate that 210,630 persons or 60.2 
per cent of the show going public is reached by the fifty 
motion picture theaters in the city, and that the capa¬ 
city of these theaters is filled from eight to eleven times 
each week. Motion pictures there get three-fifths of 
the patronage of the show-going public, and motion 
pictures and vaudeville together four-fifths. 

The Detroit Survey shows an estimated average 
weekly attendance at down-town and neighborhood pic¬ 
ture shows of 399,816 or 73.1 per cent of the show go¬ 
ing public. 

The Cleveland Report of Censorship of Motion Pic¬ 
tures for 1913 indicates that the average daily attend¬ 
ance at motion picture theaters is 115,000, while the av¬ 
erage for Sundays and holidays is about 200,000, or 
‘‘in other words, one in every six of our citizens at¬ 
tends a motion picture theater each week day, and one 
in every three when suclr leisure time as Saturdays, Sun¬ 
days and holidays is granted.” San Francisco shows 


[ 51 ] 




an average weekly attendance of 65.5 per cent of the j 
show going public at motion pictures and 80 per cent of 
the total theater capacity in motion picture houses. | 
The Kansas City Survey shows that 73.9 per cent of the. 
show going public there attend motion pictures. 

“The most striking figure of the table (showing 
various forms of commercial recreation) is that of 449,- 
064 as the average weekly attendance at motion picture I 
shows in Kansas City, or almost twice the population I 
of the city. ’ 9 Rowland Haynes, the chief expert in ! 
recreation surveys of the Playground and Recreation j 
Association, vouches for the conservatism of this esti¬ 
mate. 

This means that “if we rule out the penny arcades 
and the medical museums as special pick-up forms of j 
amusement, the moving picture shows have four times 
as many attendants per week as the vaudeville, melo-; 
drama, burlesque, and legitimate theaters put together.” 

It is manifest that motion pictures have done more 
than all other agencies combined to increase the size of 
the show going public. Their cheapness, their family! 
and neighborhood character, their attractiveness to 
children have brought into the patronage of this form of i 
public amusement a veritable multitude of people who] 
formerly took their recreations in private and seldom 
went to shows of any sort. 

Walter P. Eaton, the dramatic critic, ventured the; 
following in the latter part of 1913 : 

“There are certainly fen thousand such theaters, (motion i 
picture theaters) it is said and probably the daily attendance] 
is closer to twenty million than to the five million estimated! 
by the proprietors.” “This means that at ten cents an' admis-1 
sion, we as a nation are spending two millions of dollars daily : 
to witness canned drama.” 26 


28 W. P. Eaton in Menace of the Movies, American Magazine, Sep-' 
tember, 1913, v. 70, p. 55. 

[ 52 ] 






Characteristics 

Any form of amusement which gets the attention of 
such enormous numbers of people, especially the young, 
is a matter of deep significance in the national life. The 
secret of motion pictures lies in the fact that: 

“Films have been made so delicate that they will take a pic¬ 
ture in an exposure of 1-42,000th of a second; the mechanism 
has been so perfected that streams of consecutive pictures can 
be taken at the rate of 5,000 per second, the measurement and 
control of this being entrusted to a tuning-fork—so far beyond 
our mere mechanical abilities do such figures take us.” 27 

The single acting of a story or scene of any sort be¬ 
fore the camera in the manufacturer’s theater makes 
possible the reproduction of the same scene before count¬ 
less people at small cost. The majority of films are 
made in this way, but large sums of money are also 
spent in securing pictures of actual events in remote 
countries or in the original setting of great events and 
with as many as possible of the original factors present. 

Motion pictures show interesting contrasts to other 
forms of dramatic art. 

“In several important respects the moving picture is a more 
servicable medium for story-telling than the regular drama. 
* * * The main advantage of the moving picture play over 

the traditional types of drama is that the author is granted an 
immeasurably greater freedom in handling the categories of 
place and time. * * * A story told by moving pictures may 

change its place as frequently as the author may desire. He 
may arrange his tale in fifty scenes instead of four. * * * 

Furthermore, the moving picture possesses a notable advant¬ 
age over the contemporary regular drama in its ability to alter 
in a fraction of a second the point of view from which the story 
shall be looked upon. As soon as a character has passed 
through a certain door, the scene may be shifted from the room 


27 Filson Young, Kinema, in the Saturday Review, January 27, 1912. 

[ 53 ] 



that he has left to the room that he has entered; and the eye 
may follow him all through a house from cellar to attic with¬ 
out any loss of time. * * * It is not at all surprising that 

the moving picture play has driven out of existence the cheap 
type of popular melodrama. The reason is not merely that the 
moving picture show could undersell the regular theater and 
offer a performance fojr five cents, instead of for ten, twenty and 
thirty. The real reason for the triumph of the moving pic¬ 
ture play is the purely critical reason that it offers a more ar¬ 
tistic type of narrative than the old popular melodrama.” 28 

As vaudeville requires no thinking, so motion pictures 
require no listening. Their appeal is wholly to the eye. 
They tell their vivid pictorial story in a language all 
can understand, and bring from the ends of the earth 
tlye exact appearance of foreign scenes and peoples, 
thrilling adventures on land and sea, the story of great 
invention, all forms of work and play, and thus make 
the whole world kin in marvelous fashion. The va¬ 
riety of subjects which they may present, and the re¬ 
markable degree to which they can reveal the human 
story by means of apting without speech, have given 
them both a wide range and deep intensity of human 
interest. 


Morals 

It is quite impossible to over-emphasize the signifi¬ 
cance of clean morals in motion picture representations. 
What has been said concerning morals of serious drama 
applies in no small degree here and with that increased 
importance which inheres in the fact of the enormously 
greater attendances indicated above. 

In the morals of motion pictures the dangerous ele¬ 
ment has entered chiefly in the ease with which sugges- 

38 Clayton Hamilton, in The Art of the Moving Picture Play , The 
Bookman, v. 32, pp. 512-516, January, 1911. 

[ 54 ] 






tive stories and indecent or criminal actions are por¬ 
trayed, and despite all efforts to eliminate them, a small 
percentage of such pictures continues to be shown. 
A\ here boys and girls attend in large numbers, pictures 
of this sort are an especial menace. The vividness and 
the manner of the portrayal has frequently led to such 
direct imitation of the actions portrayed that the most 
serious crimes have been committed under the power 
of an impulse thus awakened. The San Francisco rat¬ 
ing of the morals of motion pictures is 48.66 per cent 
good, 17 per cent bad, 32 per cent neutral, °2.33 per cent 
doubtfully bad. 

The danger of vulgar vaudeville acts in motion pic¬ 
ture theaters has already been pointed out in the chap¬ 
ter on Vaudeville. 

The Chicago Vice Report calls attention to another 
danger connected with motion picture theaters, as fol¬ 
lows : 

“Investigations by individuals interested in the welfare of 
children have pointed out many instances where the children 
have been influenced for evil by the conditions surrounding 
some of these shows. Vicious men and boys mix with the 
crowd in front of the theaters and take liberties with very 
young girls.” 

The evil effects of lurid posters are also to be noted 
here. 

Early in the development of the popularity of motion 
pictures, their possibilities for evil as well as good were 
recognized and the action of a few far-sighted men and 
women in forming the New York National Board of 
Censorship has had an effect of the utmost importance 
in safeguarding public morals by an efficient coopera¬ 
tion with the manufacturers of films. It may well be 
questioned whether any other group of men and women 
of equal size has done more for the morals of recreation 


[ 55 ] 



in America than the members of this Board, for the sig¬ 
nificance of motion pictures in the national life of today \ 
is difficult to over-estimate. Motion pictures have in 
reality provided a theater of the people, not without 
its defects and dangers, but for the most part whole¬ 
some. It may be temporary in its popularity, but it is 
offering at the present to millions of American citizens j 
daily a means of real diversion, some genuine education, 
and no small degree of uplift. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 What are the physical conditions in motion picture 
shows in “our town?” Are the buildings well venti¬ 
lated? Are proper safe-guards against over-crowding 
and fire provided? Are there an adequate number of 
exits ? 

2 How thoroughly censored are all the films shown? 

Is there need of a local or state wide censorship ? 

3 Does the popularity of the movies in “our town” 
seem to have an effect upon the patronage of the sa¬ 
loons ? 

4 What are the moral conditions surrounding mo¬ 
tion picture shows? Are low jokes and immoral sugges¬ 
tions tolerated about the entrance? Is there evidence of 
improper action in dimly lighted parts of the theater? 

5 What are the subjects of greatest interest? Why 
is Western so popular? 

6 Study the moral attitude of the audience. Does j 
it applaud the sensually suggestive when it is shown, or 
is the attitude one of decency and wholesomeness? 

7 What specific points in motion pictures which you 
have seen do you believe should be eliminated, such as 
the clinging kiss, the suggestive embrace, the striking 
of blows, the brandishing of a knife? 


[ 56 ] 



8 Study carefully the reels that are not censored. 
Do any of them advertise commercial products of doubt¬ 
ful value? Are they up to the grade of censored films? 

9 Further material upon motion pictures will be 
found on pages 141 and 209. 


Further Suggestions on the Dramatic Group 

Other phases of dramatic amusements which the 
group may well investigate and discuss are: 

1 Penny arcades still prevalent at amusement re¬ 
sorts and in the larger cities, notably Kansas City 
among those surveyed. There they receive 7.8 per cent 
of the total attendance at exhibition amusements. The 
pictures exhibited in these slot machines are always of 
a low order, frequently suggestive and indecent, calcu¬ 
lated to catch the attention of boys and girls of prurient 
mind. Reference should be made to the Kansas City 
Recreation Survey and The Social Evil in Chicago . The 
prevalence of suggestive and obscene post cards should 
also be noted. 

2 Medical museums, “men only” shows, and similar 
exhibition places which show a variety of freaks and ab¬ 
normalities, many of which are out and out fakes. 
These places are often catch traps for the under-world. 

3 Patent medicine, Indian, glass-blowing shows, and 
the like which make the round of the country villages, 
frequently traveling with tents and presenting a cheap 
entertainment. This is accessory to the sale of medi¬ 
cine, Indian goods, glassware or other articles. These 
shows depend upon the gullibility of country people and 
often succeed by the use of clever tricks in extracting 


[ 57 ] 


considerable sums of money from villages where poverty 
is general. The persistence of Punch and Judy, puppet 
shows and the like at country fairs and elsewhe e is well 
worth attention. The latest successors to these travel¬ 
ling entertainments are the motion picture shows which 
make the rounds of the smallest villages during the sum¬ 
mer months with tent equipment. 


Bibliography 


Motion Pictures 

Books 

Bartholomew, R. O. Report of Censorship of Motion Pictures 

and of investigation of Motion Picture Theaters of Cleve¬ 
land, 1913. 

A thorough investigation. 

Collier, John. Problem of Motion Pictures. National board of 
censorship, 1910. 

Fosdick, R. B. Report on the Condition of Moving Picture 
Shows in New York. March 22, 1911. Free, Office of the 
Commissioner of Accounts, City of New York. 

A statement of conditions. 

Jump, H. A. Social Influence of the Moving Picture. Play¬ 
ground and Recreation Association of America, New York, 
1911. 5c. 

Talbot, F. A. Moving Pictures, How They are Made and 

Worked. Lippencott, 1912. $1.50. 

A comprehensive view of the subject, its history, achieve¬ 
ments and possibilities. 

Thomas, Mrs. W. I. Five Cent Theater. In National Conference 

of Charities and Correction, 1910. pp. 145-149. $2. 

A concise discussion. 


Periodicals 

Dehumanizing the stage. Current Opinion, April, 1913, v. 54, 
pp. 297-298. 

Interprets the development of mechanical devices, 

[ 58 ] 







Eaton, W. P. Menace of the Movies. American Magazine, Sep¬ 
tember, 1913, v. 70, pp. 55—60. 

Able discussion of the dramatic significance of motion 
pictures. 

Fuller, Mary. My Adventures as a Motion-Picture Heroine. 

Collier, December 30, 1911, v. 48, pp. 16—17. 

Grau, Robert. Moving Picture Show and the Living Drama. 

Review of Reviews, March, 1912, v. 45, pp. 329-336. 

Hamilton, Clayton. Art of the Moving Picture Play. Bookman, 
January, 1911, v. 32, pp. 512--516. 

Hamilton, Clayton. Drama of Illusion. Bookman, December, 
1911, v. 34, pp. 358-370. 

Interpretative account of modern realistic drama. 

Lane. W. D. and others. Edison vs. Euclid: Has he Invented a 
Moving Stairway to Learning? Survey, September 6, 1913, 
v. 30, pp. 681-695. 

Discusses Mr. Edison’s contribution through the movies. 

Moral Havoc Wrought by Moving Picture Shows. Current Opin¬ 
ion, April, 1914, v. 56, p. 290. 

Moving Picture and the National Character. Review of Re¬ 
views, September, 1910, v. 42, pp. 315-320. 

Educational possibilities are illustrated. 

Palmer, L. E. The World in Motion. Survey, June 5, 1909, v. 
22, pp. 355-365. 

Vivid account of moving picture shows, past and present, 
and their great possibilities in becoming the “People’s 
theater.” 

Vorse, M. H. Some Picture Show Audiences. Outlook, June 24, 
1911, v. 98, pp. 441-447. 

Wallin, J. E. W. The Moving Picture in Relation to Education, 
Health, Delinquency and Crime. Pedagogical Seminary, 
June, 1910, v. 17, p. 129-142. 

A fundamental discussion of the problems involved. 

White Slave Films: a Review. Outlook, February 14, 1914, v. 
106, pp. 345-350. 

Where the danger lies. 

Willows, Maurice. The Nickel Theater. Supplement to Annals 
of the American Academy, July, 1911, pp. 95-99. 


[ 59 ] 



Ill The Social Rendezvous Group of 
Amusements 

The second general phase of the amusement problem 
embraces: 

1 Cafes with amusement features and similar places. 

2 Public dance halls. 

3 Pool rooms and similar “hangouts” for men. 

These resorts have this in common, that they bring 

people together for social intercourse. They variously 
offer opportunity for eating and drinking, smoking, mu¬ 
sic and dancing, games, and a certain amount of gen¬ 
eral sociability. The first and second headings above 
cover institutions for men and women, the third, for 
men alone. 


1 CAFES WITH AMUSEMENT FEATURES 

Cabarets, music halls where food and drink are sold, 
beer gardens, roof gardens and the like. 

Extent 

This group represents an important and popular 
phase of the problem. Under it let us study those 
places which ordinarily dispense to men and women 
both food and drink, and which provide music or other 
entertainment features as a part of the bill of fare. 

It is not easy to draw a line between these and other 
places more or less like them and thus get at their num¬ 
ber. On one side is the ordinary free-lunch bar saloon 
and the field of the liquor problem. On another side are 
the rendezvous of the underworld, and the field of the 


[ 60 ] 


social evil. On another side still is cheap vaudeville 
and the dramatic amusement field; while on the near 
side they shade off into ordinary restaurants. 

It is indeed the hybrid nature of these places typi¬ 
fied in the cabaret, quasi-dramatic, quasi-musical, dis¬ 
pensing food and drink to all who have the price, and 
whose appearance does not offend the management, 
which gives them whatever distinctive character they 
have. 

The puzzle of finding a basis of classification for in¬ 
stitutions of this general type is well illustrated in the 
following quotation from a novel of 1914, which also 
shows the difficulty of getting at any figures showing 
their extent. 

“Funny how this building tells the story of the last few 
years,” she said. “A few winters ago we thought it was amus¬ 
ing to go to supper at a good restaurant after the theater, have 
something nice to eat and drink, talk a w T hile, and go home to 
bed. We thought we were very devilish. * * * And now 

the place down stairs is deserted. 

“Then somebody started the cabaret. And we flocked to that. 
We ate the filthiest stuff and drank the rottenest wine, and 
didn’t care, so long as they had some sensational dancer or 
singer cavorting in the aisle. They were so close you could 
hear them grunt, and they looked like frights in their make-up. 
But we thought it was exciting. * * * But it has become 

so tame and stupid that it is quite respectable.” 

“At present we are dancing in the aisles ourselves, crowding 
the professional entertainers off their own floors. * * * 

Whatever we do is wrong, so, as my youngest boy says, ‘What’s 
the use and what’s the diff ?’ ” 

“Only one thing worries me,” said Winifred, as she peeled 
her gloves from her great arms and her tiny hands. “What 
will come next? Even this can’t keep us interested much 
longer.” 20 


20 Rupert Hughes, What Will People Say, P* 41. 

[ 61 ] 




The important fact from the point of view of this 
study is the apparently rapid increase of places of this 
general type frequented by the public in the larger 
cities. 

Some factors in addition to catchy advertising, which 
help to swell their number and patronage, are the din¬ 
ing out habit, the contracted space for the home enter¬ 
tainment of guests, difficulties with domestic service, 
and the pervading restlessness and sensationalism of 
city life. 


Characteristics 

Certain characteristics of these places are especially 
worthy of study. Their hybrid character has already 
been touched upon. As a combination between vaude¬ 
ville aud restaurant, the cabaret stands at the point of 
breakdown in the separation of entertainers and audi¬ 
ence, for the entertainer not only performs before those 
entertained but also among them. The tendency is to 
break down this separation entirely, and for promiscu¬ 
ous sociability to develop. Yet the passing of this sepa¬ 
ration means the passing of dignity and any real mu¬ 
sical or dramatic purpose. It paves the way for the 
crowd spirit to take possession of the place. Similar 
tendencies working out in different ways, exist in roof 
gardens and music halls where refreshments are served, 
and carelessness in relationships is prevalent. 

Places of this type ordinarily expect that liquor will 
be ordered with meals or refreshments and frequently 
make their chief profits from drinks. The management, 
therefore, fosters an alcoholic gaiety and seeks to spread 
the atmosphere of a “good time” throughout the place 
so that semi-intoxication is general. This means that 
an easj^-going familiarity comes to dominate the crowd. 


[ 62 ] 



This frequently degenerates into promiscuous socia¬ 
bility with the aid of some “star” entertainer, ordinar¬ 
ily a young woman in scanty attire who sings and 
dances suggestively in and out among the diners, fre¬ 
quently playing tricks upon them. The spirit of li¬ 
cense easily develops under her guidance as the 
sense of privacy breaks down, and in the prevalence of 
the dancing mania a more or less general promiscuity of 
relationships may emerge. 


Morals 

The moral character of the places in this group 
varies widely, of course, for in some the management is 
strict, while with others “anything goes.” Even though 
there be considerable care on the part of the manage¬ 
ment, the very nature of the place as described above 
provides the setting for immoral influences. The sale of 
liquor, easy-going familiarity, suggestive singing and 
dancing, a young woman or effeminate man to set the 
crowd off together in some common impulse,—these are 
the factors sought by the underworld in its recruiting 
stations. The result is that many of the places in this 
group, ostensibly respectable, have become the rendez¬ 
vous of men and women who pick up acquaintances and 
lure young people into immorality. The San Francisco 
report indicates “grave abuses which exist in connec¬ 
tion with many of those restaurants which are con¬ 
ducted in .conjunction with hotels and bars,” and char¬ 
acterizes this combination in the form there found as 
“a standing menace to the community.” 


[ 63 ] 




Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 Discuss the dangers of being friendly and sociable 
with strangers in public places. 

2 Consider with care the conditions in ice cream, 
and soda water parlors, candy shops, and the like, 
where musical, and other amusement attractions are fre¬ 
quently provided. These places are often social ren¬ 
dezvous and show many of the tendencies already de¬ 
scribed. 

3 Discuss the rapid recent development of the res¬ 
taurant into a place of varied amusement. What dan¬ 
gers do you see in the overlapping of different forms 
of business in these places. 

4 Further material upon cafes with amusement fea¬ 
tures will be found on pages 144, 170 and 210. 


Bibliography 

The Social Rendezvous Group 

1 Cafes with amusement features and similar places. 

2 Public dance halls. 

3 Pool rooms and similar “ hang-outs’ * for men. 

Reference should be made throughout the study of the 
Social rendezvous group to the recreation surveys and re¬ 
ports listed under The Amusement Situation in General. 

Books 

Bartholomew, R. O. Report of Dance Hall Inspector. Cleve¬ 
land, O., August, 1912. Apply to Mayor’s office. 

Bowen, L. DeK. Our most Popular Recreation Controlled by 

the Liquor Interests. The Juvenile Protective Association 
of Chicago, 1911. 10c. 

A study of public dance halls. 

Calkins, Raymond. Substitutes for the Saloon. Houghton, 
1901. $1.30. See chapters on The saloon as a social center, 

pp. 1-24. The clubs of the people, pp. 45-69; The clubs for 
the people, pp. 70-100; Indoor amusements, pp. 156-186; 
Outdoor amusements, pp. 187-215. 

Winter and summer amusements and substitutes. 

[ 64 ] 





Hanaw, M. S. Baltimore’s Public Dance Halls. A pamphlet 
published by the author. 

Israels, Mrs. C. H. The Dance Problem. Proceedings, Confer¬ 
ence of Charities and Correction, 1912. pp. 140-146. 

Much experience and practical wisdom are packed into 
these pages. 


Periodicals 

Against the Tango. Literary Digest, January 31, 1914, y. 48, 

p. 210. 

Varied comment. 

Bowen, L. DeK. Dance Halls. Survey, June 3, 1911, v. 26, 
pp. 383-387. 

A telling article by one who knows the facts. 

Castle, I. What is a The Dansant? Delineator, May, 1914, 

v. 84, p. 10. 

Dancing Academies; Some Possibilities. Charities and the 
Commons, February 27, 1909, v. 21, pp. 1018-1019. 

Evils of dance halls and academies, offering substitutes 
for the latter as they exist today. 

Inglis, William. Is Modern Dancing Indecent? Harper’s 
Weekly, May 17, 1913, v. 57, pp. 11-12. 

An unbiased consideration of a remarkable phase of con¬ 
temporary life. 

Israels, B. L. Way of the Girl. Survey, July 3, 1909, v. 22, 
pp. 486-497. 

Vivid account of the evils due to public dance halls and 
amusement parks, with an appreciation of the good use to 
which they can be turned. 

Mumford, E. W. Where is Your Daughter This Afternoon? 

Harper’s Weekly, January 17, 1914, v. 59, p. 28. 

Defends the modern dances. 

New Dances Again. Independent, January 12, 1914, v. 77, p. 51. 

New Reflections on the Dancing Mania. Current Opinion, Oct¬ 
ober, 1913, v. 55, pp. 262-264. 

Problem that the Tango has Inflicted on the Church. Current 
Opinion, March, 1914, v. 56, p. 206. 

Recreation Program for a Million Children. Charities and the 
Commons, March 6, 1909, v. 21, pp. -1037-1038. 

Investigation made in New York shows that public dance 
halls are attended by a quarter of a million persons a week. 

Sir Ray Lankester’s Plea. Current Opinion, October, 1913, 
v. 55, p. 259. 

An interesting aspect of the question. 


5 


[65] 



2:PUBLIC dance halls 

Closely akin to cafes with amusement features, roof 
gardens, and the like, and often directly connected 
with them, are public dance halls. 

Extent 

The number of public dance halls in any community 
is likely to be in proportion to the number of young 
men and women who are out of normal home relations 
and social life of a more selective sort. These places 
breed most prolifically in the congestion and abnormal 
living conditions of the larger cities. They are always 
present to some extent in smaller cities and towns, 
and there are few villages in which there is no hall 
which serves this purpose. In the present stage of 
the dancing craze, figures are rapidly out of date but 
may continue to be of value for comparison. 

The Milwaukee Recreation Survey summarizes the 
dance hall situation there as follows: 

“In November, 1911, 12,000 or 13,000 was the average number 
of people in attendance at dancing places, both academies and 
dance halls, on each Saturday evening. This was before the 
height of the season, when there is a larger attendance. Of 
each Saturday night crowd in November, 1911, 8,000 or 9,000 
were between eighteen and twenty-five years of age, or about 
fourteen per cent of the entire number of young people in Mil¬ 
waukee between those ages. Of this 8,000 or 9,000 about 1,000 
were in good surroundings in carefully supervised dancing 
academies and in family gatherings in halls where older peo¬ 
ple of the neighborhood were in attendance. About 2,500 were 
in surroundings where there is little oversight. The remain¬ 
ing 4,000 to 5,000 were in surroundings which make for coarse¬ 
ness, if nothing worse is said of them. Some of these latter 
named places are distinctly vicious.” 


( [ 66 ] 




The situation in 1911 in Chicago, a city of 2,185,283, 
is thus described in The Social Evil in Chicago. 

“There are approximately 275 public dance halls in Chicago 
which are rented periodically to so-called pleasure clubs and 
societies, or are conducted by individuals. Many of these halls 
are frequented by minors, both girls and boys, and in some 
instances they are surrounded by great temptations and dan- 
gers.” 

Mrs. Charles H. Israels thus describes the New York 
situation in 1911: 

In New York City over 500 public dance halls are registered 
as such, and about one-half of them are operated as dancing 
academies. Taking in all of the dance halls, dancing acade¬ 
mies and amusement resorts in and around New York City 
where dancing may be indulged in the year around, the rough 
average attendance in a year would mount up to four or five 
million young people between the ages of fifteen and thirty. 
In Manhattan Borough alone about 100,000 young people are 
taught to dance each week. The storm of dance madness has 
come over the young people of New York.” 30 


The extent of the dance hall situation of 1910 in 
Cleveland, a city of 560,663 population, is thus sum¬ 
marized in the pamphlet Story of Public Dance Halls: 

‘‘Five thousand girls and 6,500 young men were found in at¬ 
tendance at the 79 dances in public halls visited. There were 
altogether 130 dance halls where pay dances were given.” 

The Kansas City Survey, covering April, 1911, to 
April, 1912, shows “a total of 16,566 as the total aver¬ 
age weekly attendance at all types of dancing places 
in Kansas City.” 

An unpublished report of Louisville, a city of 223,- 
928 population, shows 33 dance halls, 9 of which are 

30 Mrs. C. H. Israels, in Diverting a Pastime , Leslies, July 27, 


[ 67 ] 



in buildings where liquor is sold, and in adjacent build¬ 
ings or on opposite corners. 

The San Francisco report states that “Of the hun¬ 
dred and two dance halls in the city and county of 
San Francisco forty are in the district known as the 
Barbary Coast. All of these dances are operated in 
connection with saloons or cafes.” 


Characteristics 

Public dancing places are of two main types—danc¬ 
ing academies, and public dance halls. Dancing acad¬ 
emies are 

“* * * places in which dancing is taught. The typical 

academy gives lessons during the day and on certain evenings, 
perhaps three in each week. The remaining evenings, and of 
course Sunday afternoons, are either ‘reception nights’ in 
which pupils, their friends, and outsiders may come (for a 
price) to take part in general dancing; or the hall is leased 
to organizations to ‘run off’ affairs. In the latter case the 
renting organization assumes entire management, selling the 
tickets and reaping the profits. The academy thus shades into 
the dance hall proper. In this no instruction is offered at any 
time but the floor is thrown open several nights of the week 
to whomsoever will pay the fifteen or twenty-five cents admis¬ 
sion, and is rented on other nights for ‘affairs’ whenever the 
proprietor can get his price.” 31 

Public dance halls range all the way from “the 
back room of the saloon in which couples sit around 
at tables, and, from time to time rise and whirl to the 
music of an unpleasant piano,” to the great public 
ball-rooms accommodating many hundreds of couples, 
and run solely as a moneymaking affair. All varieties 
of ownership and management are to be found in the 
control of these places, from that both owned and 


31 M. M. Davis, The Exploitation of Pleasure , pp. 13-14. 


[ 68 ] 




strictly managed by the “professor” of dancing, to 
the hall which is merely an adjunct to a saloon and 
open to the promiscuous throng or let to any individ¬ 
ual or group which desires to “run off” a dance. The 
conduct of any dance depends indeed almost invari¬ 
ably upon the character of the leaders in the group 
who are present. In the Milwaukee Survey, Rowland 
Haynes points out that: 

“A careful distinction should be made between different types 
of dances in dance halls. A majority of them appeal chiefly 
to the younger people, are conducted by the young people them¬ 
selves, and have practically no supervision or chaperonage by 
older persons. These should he carefully marked from certain 
family gatherings where children of five go with their parents 
and many married couples are present with the younger people. 
These neighborhood social gatherings are of high order in fur¬ 
nishing fun and in the developing of a wholesome neighbor¬ 
hood feeling. The fact that they are held in a hall or room 
where liquor is sold is simply an incident.” 

Four types of dances fairly typical are described by 
M. S. Hanaw in The Report of, Baltimore Public Dance 
Halls, as follows: 

1 Academies for public dancing. 

2 Public charity balls, often given during the winter by 
unions or “friends” of a fellow-workman in distress. As a rule 
there is no supervision. Profits are derived from the sale of 
drinks. 

3 Public, social, literary, athletic, or political club benefit 
balls. There is always a bar and seldom is there any real 
supervision. 

4 Balls “run off” by individuals for personal gain are per¬ 
haps the most lawless of all. There is never any supervision, 
and the crowd is always very large and promiscuous. There is 
extreme disorder and much indecency. 


[ 69 ] 



The third and fourth groups above are thus de¬ 
scribed by M. M. Davis: 

“The average young man and woman are more affected by 
the larger dance halls. Innumerable clubs,—social, fraternal, 
athletic, political,—support themselves by ‘running off’ an 
‘affair’ or two each year. The “affair” is a dance, the dance 
includes drinking, and the drinks make the main profit both 
for the landlord and for the club. Such a situation is but an¬ 
other result of the lack of facilities, either at home or in 
public buildings, for the normal expression of community life. 
When people cannot form a social circle and dance at home or 
in a municipal hall, and when rents of meeting-rooms are so 
high that the club dues practicable for working people cannot 
alone meet the tax, then there is no other way than the present 
system of ‘running’ affairs. Thus we get down to the basal 
economics of it. More than this, a further opportunity for 
the exploitation of the multitude leads clever young men to 
organize clubs for the purpose of ‘running’ affairs, thereby 
making profit for themselves. There are young fellows who are 
notorious as organizers of dances, operating usually under the 
name of an organization which they and a few cronies actually 
constitute. These worthies, of course, do not refuse to accept 
opportunity to utilize vicious agencies.” 32 

The characteristics of dancing places in smaller 
towns are described by Mrs. Israels as follows: 

“The young people coming from the country form the main¬ 
stay of the amusement resorts. They drift into the towns and 
into amusement places, and find on every hand a plentiful sup¬ 
ply of their favorite type of recreation, the dance. In the 
smaller communities it is often a big room over a saloon, -with 
immoral resorts in the immediate neighborhood, or a dance 
platform attached to a picnic grove. There the boys meet 
girls and the girls meet boys and the nights go merrily on; 
but the proprietor must be paid, and he is paid in the way that 
suits him best. Drinks pay his bills. While the purchase of 
liquor must often cost the girl nothing in money, it frequently 

32 M. M. Davis, in The Exploitation of Pleasure, pp. 15-16. 

[70] 




costs her something else that she can never regain though she 
live a hundred years.” 33 


Morals 

The morals of public dancing places cover a wide 
range. Of the best grade of halls, carefully super¬ 
vised, Mrs. Israels writes: 

‘‘There are good dance halls in all parts of the country. 
Some are under the direction of the city, like those in Chicago, 
where the field houses in the small parks serve the purpose of a 
dance hall available for young people of the neighborhood at 
all times. Frequently good dance halls are found as private 
enterprises conducted on the principle that the best things pay. 
These modern model dance institutions are in the Western 
cities with the exception of a few in New York.” 34 

The preponderance of evidence upon the morals of 
average public dance halls is, however, decidedly in 
the negative. The difficulties which arise in one form 
or another are usually due to the breakdown of social 
proprieties, the ease of making acquaintances, the sen¬ 
sual character of the dancing which is allowed to pre¬ 
vail, the sale of liquor, the tendency to coarse conver¬ 
sation and profanity, darkness in certain portions of 
the building accessible to the dancers, or shadow 
dances, the lack of supervision, and the character of 
some at least of the persons in attendance. The situa¬ 
tion in Chicago has been described by the Juvenile 
Protective Association: 

“* * * a very large number disreputable, with saloon 

attached, patronized by young girls. * * * Dancing is only 

a secondary consideration; drinking is the principal object. 
The girl is not welcome unless she drinks. From this sort of 
amusement the end is sure.” 


83 Mrs. Belle Linder Israels, Conference of Charities and Correc¬ 
tions. Boston, 1911, p. 105. 

34 Mrs. Belle Linder Israels, Diverting a Pastime, Leslie’s Weekly, 
July 27, 191i. 

[ 71 ] 




The full description of these places as given in the 
Chicago Vice Report and other authoritative docu¬ 
ments shows how the amusement problem and the vice 
problem merge into one in the lower grade halls. It 
is sufficient here to quote as follows: 

“In nearly every hall visited, investigators have seen profes¬ 
sional and semi-professional prostitutes. Practically no effort 
is made by the managers to observe laws regarding the sale of 
liquors. Nor is the provision of the ordinance relating to the 
presence of disreputable persons observed.” 

Mrs. Louise De Koven Bowen thus describes the Chi¬ 
cago situation in 1914: 

“We need a law which shall provide that the sale of liquor 
shall be eliminated from dance halls. About 86,000 young peo¬ 
ple attend these halls in Chicago on evenings when dances are 
given and a large number of them get into trouble because 
liquor is openly sold, while white slavers ply their trade in 
many of these places and disreputable lodging houses are often 
in the immediate vicinity.” 35 

The situation in New York is thus described by 
Julia Schoenfeld: 

“From personal investigation of about one hundred dance 
halls * * * fully two-thirds should be listed as positively 

undesirable. Liquor, of course, is universally sold in the dance 
hall, and the character of a place may often be rated according 
to the time allowed for drinking stands in ratio to the dancing 
periods. In a well managed dancing academy, on a reception 
night, there may probably be a ten minute period for dancing, 
with four minutes intermission for rest and refreshments. In 
a low dance hall the spieling period might be four minutes, 
with fifteen minutes between devoted to drinking.” 

The Cleveland situation in 1910, before the remark¬ 
able improvements made in the situation under the di¬ 
rection of Robb 0. Bartholomew, is thus described by 

35 Mrs. Louise DeKoven Bowen in Some Legislative Needs in Illin- 
oiSj p. 19. 


[ 72 ] 




him, and reveal conditions which may be found in 
many large cities where there is no efficient regulation 
of these halls. 

“The special investigation of dance halls which was carried 
oh by a self-constituted committee during the year 1910, showed 
that young boys and girls, fourteen to eighteen years of age, 
were attending dances where liquor was sold in one end of the 
hall; that prizes were often offered to girls who would drink 
the greatest number of glasses of liquor during the evening; 
that these girls and boys were allowed to remain at the dances 
until three o’clock in the morning; that at many of these 
dances immoral women were allowed to solicit; that dances 
were held in buildings where there was no attempt at proper 
sanitation; that fire code regulations were unlawfully disre¬ 
garded and that there were many unlighted passages, rooms 
and stairways where patrons congregated and conducted them¬ 
selves in a reprehensible manner. The dances were found to 
be unprotected from disturbances and fights precipitated by 
intoxicated individuals or by gangs of toughs and rowdies who 
frequented halls where inefficient police were hired to do 
police duty. It was found that many of these officers fre¬ 
quently became intoxicated and that in at least two cases they 
were endeavoring to lead young girl patrons astray. These 
special police failed to see to the proper ventilation of halls, 
allowed all manner of obscene dancing, refused to prohibit 
vulgar and profane language, and encouraged drunkenness.” 38 

In an unpublished report upon “The Social and 
Moral Aspects of the Amusements of Working Girls in 
New York City,” Julia Schoenfield writes of public 
dance halls: 

“1 found that vulgar dancing exists everywhere, and the 
‘spiel,’ a form of dancing requiring much twirling and twist¬ 
ing, and one that particularly causes sexual excitement, is pop¬ 
ular in all * * * The desire for popularity, the coarse lan¬ 

guage and the vulgarity of many, the easy familiarity in the 
dance practiced by nearly all the men in the way they handle 


36 R. O. Bartholomew, Report of Dance Hall Inspector, Cleve 
land, O., August, 1912. 


[ 73 ] 







the girls, deadens after awhile the sensibilities of even the fin¬ 
est girl. Going to a place constantly where the greater number 
lack restraint and refinement, the girl becomes inured, so that 
whatever first shocked her does not seem so terrible.” “Some 
places went so far as to offer prizes of $100 to the girls who 
at the end of the month had the largest number of drinks 
placed to their credit.” 37 

It is not surprising that A. B. Williams, Jr., General 
Agent of the Cleveland Humane Society, writes of a 
similar situation: 

“Under such conditions it is not strange that one who deals 
often with the problem of the illegitimate child frequently 
gets the statement from the girl-mother, ‘I met him at a pub¬ 
lic dance.’ ” 

It is obvious that all of these tendencies and influ¬ 
ences have been intensified in public dance halls by 
the “modern dances,” in which bodily contact has 
been conventionalized to an unprecedented degree, 
and fainting due to prolonged sex excitement is not 
infrequent. 

San Francisco contributes the following in its re¬ 
port on Recreation: 

“Of all vicious dances, the Saturday all-night dance which 
has become a part of our city life, is by far the most danger¬ 
ous. The records of our juvenile and other courts show that 
not only does one girl (as had been reported) sacrifice her 
virtue as the result of each dance but that some weeks three 
and four of this kind are reported. There can be absolutely 
no question but that at these dances many girls make their 
first step toward the ‘Tenderloin’ and the ‘Barbary Coast’.” 

That the dance hall problem is not confined to the 
larger cities, but spreads throughout the country, is 
evidenced in the following: 

“The Slavs in the Pennsylvania coal fields habitually drink 
heavily before their prolonged dances. The dancing halls 

37 The Flayground, March, 1914. 

[74] 





which are weekly patronized by the working classes of these 
mining towns are not fit places for our young, for their minds 
are not humanized and their bodies are not refined in them. 
Dangerous and daring men have perfect freedom and are un¬ 
der no restraint in cementing friendship with gullible young 
girls which often means their ruin.” 38 

Other immoral features which claim attention are 
the offensive “throw-aways” upon which suggestive 
songs and stories are printed, and the singing of vi¬ 
cious songs with the acting out of sentiments ex¬ 
pressed. 

The evil of the special liquor' license in relation to 
dancing is sufficiently characterized in the following 
by A. E. Gfraupner, Assistant City Attorney of San 
Francisco: 

“By reviewing the ordinances we find that San Francisco 
not only tolerates the sale of liquor at public dances but au¬ 
thorizes and licenses twenty-four hour orgies in the guise of 
dances and masked balls, under the ordinance providing for 
one day liquor licenses, and permits saloons to conduct dances 
for the purpose of increasing the demand for liquor.” 39 

The moral dangers involved in public dance halls 
are clearly summarized in the San Francisco report as 
follows: 

“Of all recreations, public dance halls bear the most direct 
and immediate relation to the morals of their patrons, and it 
is very much to be regretted that this influence, as at present 
exerted, is extremely destructive. This may be 'directly 
traced to three primary causes. First, the forming of pro¬ 
miscuous acquaintanceships; second, the intimate relations of 
the dancers; third, the sale of liquor. In addition to each of 
these causes exerting an influence peculiarly its. own, the three 
working in conjunction form a combination that is extremely 
destructive of the moral sense of the participant.” 


38 F. H. Streightoff, in The Standard of Living Among the Industrial 
People of America, p. 142. 

39 Public Recreation Transactions of the Common Wealth Club of 
California, p. 282. 

[ 75 ] 




Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 The following points may well be discussed: 
What prompts most young people to go to public 
dance halls? Are these desires right enough and nat¬ 
ural in themselves? What are the chief dangers to 
which young people are exposed? In some groups a 
thorough discussion of facts set forth by the Chicago 
Vice Commission and other reports may be held. : 
Such a discussion should, however, have the definite 1 
aim of improving local conditions. 

2- A local investigation as to dance halls might be 
made by one or two mature and thoroughly experi¬ 
enced persons on behalf of the group, but a visit by 
the group to a public dance hall would, of course, be 
out of place. Mere curiosity should never prompt any 
social investigation. “Slumming” expeditions are uni¬ 
formly condemned by social workers. They yield no 
facts to those who go that are not better obtainable 
elsewhere. They intensify the evils which they go to 
see. Social investigation of any real value is a deli¬ 
cate, difficult, and frequently dangerous piece of work. 
It should seldom be undertaken save by professional 
workers. 

3 The group should consider the value of skating 
rinks as akin to dance halls but furnishing more whole¬ 
some exercise. 

4 Some groups may be tempted to digress from 
the main subject at this point to take up a discussion 
of the social evil or the liquor problem. The limits of 
this study .make that inadvisable here. 

5 Further material upon public dance halls will be 
found on pages 145 and 210. 


[76] i 




3 POOL ROOMS AND SIMILAR “HANGOUTS” 
FOR MEN 

The third general phase of the social rendezvous 
j group deals with those public places where men con- 
gregate for amusement. 40 

Among them are pool and billiard halls, gaming and 
; drinking “clubs,” bowling alleys, shooting galleries, 
j cigar stores, barber shops, depots, hotel lobbies, and 
| other “hangouts.” With these should be included 
certain street corners and other outdoor loafing 
places, notably those in the neighborhood of railroads, 
saloons, hotels, and theaters. 

Extent 

It is obviously impossible to get at any general esti¬ 
mates ’of the number of such places or the numbers of 
men frequenting them. Figures are available from 
some cities, however, for pool, billiards, and bowling 
places. Milwaukee shows 842 pool places, 24 billiard 
places, 91 bowling places. “Only a small fraction of 
the pool tables are in regular pool and billiard parlors 
devoted chiefly to these games. The majority are 
single tables scattered in a little over eight hundred 
saloons, and furnish an adjunct to that neighborhood 
place of amusement.” 

The 63 billiard rooms of Montreal are reported to 
average 3,000 men a night. The unpublished Recrea¬ 
tion Survey of Rochester, N. Y., shows “190 pool and 
billiard and bowling places,” and Louisville, Ky., 107 
pool and billiard rooms. The Kansas City report shows 

40 The saloon, the chief of all these places, is considered under “The 
Liquor Problem’’, rather than here. Reference should be made to that 
problem, Study No. 1, studies in American Social Conditions, where 
a selected bibliography will be found. 

[77] 




197 pool and billiard parlors with 153,387 as the aver-| 
age weekly attendance on this type of amusement. 
Age records were not taken at these inspections ex¬ 
cept to note many minors. The Detroit Survey shows. 
297 pool rooms, 16 billiard rooms, 36 bowling alleys,! 
5 shooting galleries. 

“Providence, R. I., shows an estimated 32,600 as the total j| 
attendance at the 160 pool rooms and 18 bowling alleys each 
week. * * * The number of individual men is probably '! 

at least one-third that number. Of more than 10,000 esti¬ 
mated habitues of these places, it is found that about three- 
quarters are young men under twenty-five years of age. Of 
the places where pool is played, practically one-half, 73, have | 
liquor, and 58 of these are really bar-rooms, with one pool 
table, in most cases little used.” 

Indianapolis shows a weekly attendance in winter 
of 190,000. There were 471 licenses granted in 1913. 
These figures seem to indicate that in typical Ameri¬ 
can cities the attendance at these places is consider¬ 
able, and when all the “hangouts” included under 
this phase of the social rendezvous group are consid¬ 
ered, it is evident that a large proportion of the young 
men of any city spend much of their leisure in them. 


Characteristics 

The characteristics of places included under this 
grouping vary widely, but have their unifying factors 
in their “men only” character and conversation, in 
games of some sort, smoking, frequently petty gam¬ 
bling, and the sale of liquor either in the rendezvous 
or near it. In pool, billiard and bowling places, the 
loser pays the cost of the game. The gambling may 
be a side issue to the playing of some game of skill, 
or it may be the entire attraction. 


[ 78 ] 



Morals 


A considerable proportion of places in this group 
which are under management, are well run and cater 
to a clean trade which comes for the sake of the games 
and a democratic meeting place. The Kansas City 
chart on the moral grading of commercial recreation 
rates pool halls as 46.2 per cent good, and bowling 
alleys as 77.1 per cent good. 

Considering all the places included in this group, 
however, it seems apparent that serious immorality 
characterizes many of them. Conversation is apt to 
be low grade, as reported from Montreal, “a great 
deal of vile talk and coarse language.” 

Gambling on the outcome of various games is wddely 
prevalent and is in fact the chief interest in many of' 
these rendezvous, especially in gaming “clubs,” card 
joints, racetrack and baseball pool rooms, and ordi¬ 
nary gambling joints with their typical mechanical 
devices for various sorts of gambling. 

Where liquor is dispensed in the place or near it, 
typical saloon conditions develop, and frequently 
“many men under the influence of liquor” are found. 
The companionship of the liquor traffic with men’s 
games is always a serious evil wherever it is permitted. 

One of the chief dangers in these rendezvous is the 
gang spirit, which frequently characterizes them. 
They may start as a loitering place for idle boys who 
gradually form into a gang and not infrequently be¬ 
come centers of the most immoral and criminal influ¬ 
ences. They seem to become hotbeds of lawlessness, 
generating the most vicious growths of the crowd 
spirit. These rendezvous at their worst, indeed, are 
the meeting places of the under-world mashers, cadets, 


[ 79 ] 



procurers, gangsters, gunmen, thieves, and criminals 
of all sorts. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 Members of the group should be delegated to 
study the “hangouts ’ 1 of the men of the town. All 
possible information should be secured as to the char¬ 
acter of these places, and some estimate formed as to 
the gangs which frequent them. 

2 Can law-breaking in “our town” be traced to any 
of these rendezvous? 

3 Further material dealing with pool rooms and 
similar “hangouts” for men will be found on pages 
146, 172 and 205. 


IV The Athletic Group of Amusements 

I AMATEUR ATHLETICS 

Extent 

The wide extent and deep significance of amateur 
athletics is not appreciated by those who identify them ; 
solely with college football, baseball, rowing and track 
games. The newspapers have greatly exaggerated the j 
comparative importance of college athletics. A far 
wider field opens when we consider all the ways in : 
which the American people find recreation in manifold 
athletic exercises which return to those who partici¬ 
pate no other pay than pleasure. Scrub baseball eas¬ 
ily yells itself into the place of first importance upon 
this view of the case. No American village and no 
normal American home fails to have some interest in 
one of the following activities: Baseball and football, 
[ 80 ] 



boating, tramping, track games, tennis, boxing, bowl¬ 
ing, golf, swimming, riding or driving, and such 
winter sports as bobbing, skating and skiing. The 
prevalence of amateur athletics needs to be appreci¬ 
ated as a most significant fact in the national life. 

Schools and colleges are awake to the educational 
significance of these activities, instinctive and irrepres¬ 
sible as they are wherever young people come to¬ 
gether, and the organization of athletics in educational 
institutions is wellnigh universal. Instructors who 
are members of the regular instructional staff are usu¬ 
ally in charge, and in many institutions some form of 
activity is made compulsory upon all students. Inter¬ 
collegiate, interscholastic and interclub athletic lea¬ 
gues of many sorts cover the country like a network, 
bringing enormous numbers of young men into health¬ 
ful competitive sport. Among the most important of 
these are the public school athletic leagues of the 
larger cities. These play interscholastic games in all 
| the chief sports, and enroll thousands of boys in over 
170 of the larger cities. 

Amateur athletics reach their most spectacular form 
| in college and university matches, especially football, 
i baseball, rowing and track games. The so-called “big 
games” have become national amusement events of 
the first order, and they deserve special study, there¬ 
fore, from that point of view. 

“It is probably a conservative estimate to put the cost of 
j football to America at $2,500,000 a year; as for the cost of 
football to the crowds of spectators, the mere paying of an ad¬ 
mission fee just begins it. Hotels and carriages, banners 
j and all sorts of things carry the cost upward. If 30,000 people 
go to a game against Princeton or Harvard on Yale field, the 
$60,000 admissions only begin to tell the story of what they 
1 spend. For instance, not long ago the New York, New Haven 
& Hartford made public the returns of its football business, 


6 


181] 






amounting to not less than $120,000, or nearly the average 
day’s passenger traffic.” 41 

Characteristics 

The distinctive characteristics of these games and 
exercises are too many and varied for specific com¬ 
ment, yet they are to be recognized as a national asset 
of immense value, for they all minister to health and 
efficiency, to sociability and co-operation, and are 
often more profoundly educative than formal instruc¬ 
tion. The meaning of loyalty and basic morality enter 
the very fiber of American youth through well-con-- 
ducted athletics. Football has been the object of 
much adverse criticism, primarily upon the points of 
physical danger and brutality. Expert opinion is 
widely divided, and the rules have been revised a 
number of times. The prevalence and popularity of 
the game increases, and a decided balance of opinion 
among college presidents is favorable to its continu¬ 
ance under proper regulation. 

Morals 

In considering the whole field of amateur athletics, 
it is refreshing to find effective moral influences at 
work throughout this phase of the national amuse¬ 
ment situation. 

Both the moral and mental values of well conducted 
athletics are now recognized as not less significant 
than their physical value and the work of school and 
college athletic leagues, where held to true amateur 
standards, has greatly heightened the student morale 
of the country. 


** A rthur Reeve > W7 iat America Spends for Sport, Outing, v. 57. n 
304, December, 1910. ’ 

[ 82 ] 





One of the chief moral dangers in athletics is the 
temptation to win at any price, which not infrequently 
leads to dishonesty either within the game itself or in 
the introduction of players who are ineligible under 
the amateur rules as agreed upon. The excessive de¬ 
sire to win also leads not infrequently to rough and 
brutal play, creating a low moral tone in the team and 
its supporters, which in turn reacts to the detriment 
of all concerned, especially of boys in the habit-form¬ 
ing age. These dangers and others are intensified by 
the increase of publicity, by large attendances of spec¬ 
tators, by athletic '‘hero worship” and by the preva¬ 
lence of certain false attitudes which find their way 
in from the realm of professional sport. The steady 
maintenance of the highest amateur standards alone 
prevents the encroachment of these dangers. 

Such attendant evils as rowdyism, disrespect of spec¬ 
tators for authority, gambling and intoxication, which 
at times accompany certain phases of these sports, are 
noticeably in opposition to the inherent demands of 
the sports themselves, and they are, therefore, not just 
criticisms of athletics. These all tend to disappear as 
the games are more effectively managed and standards 
of good sportsmanship prevail. We may safely hold 
that amateur athletics are the most wholesome and en¬ 
couraging phase of the whole general problem; indeed, 
they are less a phase of the problem than an effective 
solution. 


Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 This topic should be taken up with special ref¬ 
erence to local conditions. Members of the group should 
report upon such questions as the following: What 
teams or clubs for amateur athletics are organized in 


[ 83 ] 


our town ? How general is participation among the 
young people in scrub baseball, tennis, track games, 
boating, tramps, golf, and winter sports? Are the 
girls athletic? IIow many people attend public 
games? Are there a good many fans and rooters who 
never play at anything themselves, merely fans and 
nothing else? 

2 Do standards of good sportsmanship prevail in 
our home town athletics? Can the team and its sup¬ 
porters lose a game like men? Is the leadership of 
the game clean, or do drinking, rowdyism and profan¬ 
ity go along with athletics as we have them ? Are any 
of the finest men in the community backing up the 
team with enthusiasm and financial support? Are 
there any such men who help to quicken loyalty to 
town or school and who keep in touch with boys and 
young men? 

3 An interesting meeting can be held by inviting 
an athlete to tell the good which he believes athletics 
accomplish. See the bibliography for references. An¬ 
other member of tlie group, perhaps a doctor, should 
present Dr. Woods Hutchinson’s argument on the 
“Real Danger of Athletics.” See the bibliography. 
Doubtless other advantages and dangers will be 
pointed out by other members of the group in the dis¬ 
cussion. The standards of good sportsmanship and 
good morals should be kept in mind. Young men’s 
groups will enjoy a debate upon the comparative 
merits of different sports, football, baseball, etc. A 
college or school professor, or a father who has had 
experience with college athletics, might well be heard 
upon “Advantages vs. Attendant Evils.” A member 
of the group should present a digest of the cost of 
American athletics as shown by Arthur Reeve in 
“What America Spends For Sport.” See the bibliog- 

[84] 







raphy. An interesting portion of the hour can be 
spent by the members of the group telling what out- 
of-doors sports they like best and what they get out 
of them. 

4 Further material upon amateur athletics will be 
found on pages 147, 156, 180 and 211. 


Bibliography 


Amateur Athletics 

Books 

See entries under Proposed Solutions, III, Play, etc. p. 159. 

Barbour, R. H. Book of School and College Sports. Appleton, 
1904. $1.50. 

Contains rules and definitions of terms of outdoor games. 
Camp, Walter. Book of Football. Century, 1910. $2. 

A comprehensive and authoritative presentation. 

Camp, Walter. Football Facts and Figures. Harper, 1894. 

An old collection of interesting facts and opinions use¬ 
ful for comparisons. 

Camp, Walter and Deland, L. F. Football. Houghton, 1896. 

$ 2 . 

Not recent but valuable. 

Clark, E. H. and Graham, John. Practical Track and Field Ath¬ 
letics. Duffield. $1. 

New revised edition. Contains descriptions of practical 
methods of training for various events, including sprint¬ 
ing, jumping, pole vaulting, shot putting, hammer throw- 
* ing, etc. R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 

Cline, Earl. Advisability of Inter-High School Contests in Ath¬ 
letics. Springfield, Mass. American Physical Education 
Association. 50c. 

Cline, Earl. Inter-High School Athletics. Russell Sage Founda¬ 
tion, 130 E. 22nd St., New York City. 

Davis, P. H. Football: the American Intercollegiate Game. 
Scribner, 1911. $2.50. 

A history of football with special attention to the- de¬ 
velopment of the game in America during the past forty 
years. 

Dudley, Gertrude and Kellor, F. A. Athletic Games for Women. 

Holt, 1909. $1.25. 

Gulick, L. H. Amateurism. Russell Sage Foundation, 130 E. 
22nd St., New York City. 

A pamphlet, 

[ 85 ] 




Gulick, L. H. Physical Education by Muscular Exercise. 

Blakison, 75c. 

Hetherington, C. W. The Law of Amateurism. Eussell Sage 
Foundation, 130 E. 22nd St., New York City. 

A pamphlet. 

Robinson, H. P. Peoples at Play. Twentieth Century Amer¬ 
ican, pp. 408-428. G. P. Putnam, 1908. $1.75. 

A comparison of English and American sports. 

Reports of Public School Athletic Leagues of Baltimore, Buffalo 
Newark, N. J., New Orleans, New York, Seattle, Troy, N. Y. 
Sent free on application to the secretaries of the leagues. 
Also reports of the committees on athletics for boys and 
athletics for girls, of the Playground and Recreation Asso¬ 
ciation of America. R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 

Spaulding’s Athletic Library. American Sports Publishing Co. 

10c each. 

A separate book for each sport. 


Periodicals 


An Encyclopedia of Sport. Outing, March, 1912, v. 59, p. 705. 

Athletics and Morals. Atlantic, February, 1914, v. 113, pp. 
149-152. 

The two are closely interwoven. 

Bruce, H. A. The Psychology of Football. Outlook, November 5, 
1910, v. 96, pp. 541-545. 

Butler, E. H. Obvious Athlete. Atlantic, March, 1914, v. 113, 

pp. 422-426. 

Suggestive comment. 

Butler, N. M. Shall Football be Ended or Mended? Review of 

Reviews, January, 1906, v. 33, pp. 71-72. 

A series of opinions by college presidents. 

Camp, Walter. Lawn-Tennis, the Queen of Games. Century, 

August, 1910, v. 80, pp. 545-557. 

Clurman, M. J. Is It Not Time for Parents to Act? Ladies’ 

Home Journal, September, 1911, v. 28, p. 5. 

A sharp indictment of football as physically dangerous. 

Colton, A. E. What Football Does. Independent, September 15, 
1904, v. 57, pp. 600-607. 

Strongly advocates football for school boys. 

Gulick, L. H. New Athletics. Outlook, July 15, 1911, v. 98, 
pp* 597 —600* 

leUc^ 5SCriminatinS article in favor of intercollegiate ath- 


Hutchinson, W. H. Exercise and its Dangers. 

Monthly, March, 1907, v. 114, pp. 601-607. 
Discusses the proper limits pf exercise. 

[ 86 ] 


Harper’s 



Hutchinsor, W. H. Real Danger of Athletics. Outing* Novem¬ 
ber, 1910, v. 57, pp. 168-173. 

Discusses the need and value of athletics. 

Lucas, J. P. Commercializing Amateur Athletics. World To- 
Day, March, 1906, v. 10, pp. 281-285. 

Indictment of athletic clubs. 

Merrill, G. E. Is Football Good Sport? North American Re¬ 
view, November, 1903, v. 177, pp. 758-765. 

Argues against football as a sport. 

Needham, R. B. The College Athlete. McClure’s, June, 1905, 
v. 25, pp. 115-128; July, 1905, v. 25, pp. 260-273. 

How commercialism is making him a professional. 

Objections. Current Literature, January, 1906, v: 40, pp. 21-25. 

A collection of opinions from prominent men on football. 
Mostly in. critical vein. 

Price, L. E. Truth about Football. February 3, 1912, v. 56, 

p. 6. 

A plea for better spirit. 

Reeve, Arthur. What America Spends for Sport. Outing, De¬ 
cember, 1910, v. 57, pp. 300-308. 

Interesting figures on the cost of athletics. 

Reeve, Arthur. World’s Greatest Athletic Organizations. Out¬ 
ing, October, 1910, v. 57, pp. 106-115. 

Story of a public school athletic league. 

Snobbery of Sport. Independent, February 6, 1913, v. 74, pp. 
277-278. 

Discusses amateur standards. 

Stearns, A. E. Athletics and the School. Atlantic, February, 
1914, v. 113, pp. 145-148. 

Frank statement of the issues involved. 

Stewart, C. A. Athletics and the College, Atlantic, February, 
1914, v. 113, pp. 153-156. 

Cites prevalent evils. 

The Amateur. Outlook, February 8, 1913, v. 103, pp. 293-295. 

Comment on amateur standards. 

Thwing, C. F. Ethical Function of Football. North American, 
November, 1901, v. 173, pp. 627-731. 

Positive gains to the player in building character. 

Thwing, C. F. Football; is the Game Worth Saving? Inde¬ 
pendent, May 15, 1902, v. 54, pp. 1167-1174. 

Extracts from opinions pro and con, of leading college 
presidents on the game—favorable in mose cases to its 
continuation. 

Whitney, Caspar. Is Football Worth While? Collier, Decem¬ 
ber 18, 1909, v. 44, p. 13. 

A symposium of opinions from the presidents of repre¬ 
sentative educational institutions in the United States. 

[87] 



2 PROFESSIONAL ATHLETICS 


Athletics in any branch may of course be profes¬ 
sionalized; that is, they may be participated in for 
pay. There are persons who make their living as ex¬ 
perts in every line of sport. The most conspicuous 
forms of professional athletics in America are base¬ 
ball and boxing. 


Extent 


Interest in baseball comes nearer perhaps to being 
a national characteristic than any other single element 
in American life. It is difficult to over-estimate the 
amounts of money, time and enthusiasm, and the num¬ 
bers of people affected by “the great American game.” 

The National, American, and Federal leagues are 
only the most conspicuous among the many profes¬ 
sional leagues which in more restricted territory play j 
off their series of inter-city games. The enormous j 
total of financial investment may perhaps be imagined 
from the following: 


“Here are some figures which were furnished by an American 


league club owner. They are conservative. 

Money spent— 

Players’ salaries .. $80,000 

Traveling expenses each season. 15,000 

Southern training trip (expenses of 40 play¬ 
ers as well as coaches, manager, news¬ 
papermen, trainer, etc.) . 10,000 

Cost of scouting system. 15,000 

Salaries of office help including secretary, 
business manager, assistants, stenog¬ 
raphers, ticket sellers, ground keeper, 
etc. 10,000 


[ 88 ] 











Advertising . 2,500 

Telegraph Tolls . 1,000 


$158,500 

“There you have in round numbers the yearly cost of main¬ 
taining a major league club. The teams draw their earnings 
from the receipts and approximate figures would prove that it 
takes slightly more than $1,200 a day to maintain a club. It 
is absolutely necessary that the teams perform before average 
i daily crowds of 5,000. 

“There are twelve cities represented in the National and 
American leagues and the cost of the sixteen fields (each 
league contains eight clubs, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, 
Boston and St. Louis having representative teams in each or¬ 
ganization) totals something ljke $10,000,000.” 42 

Some slight appreciation of the enormous attend¬ 
ances at professional baseball games in America may 
be gained from the fact that the championship series 
of five games between New York and Philadelphia in 
1913 shows a total of 150,992. The receipts were $325,980. 

The number of people who “follow” league base¬ 
ball as one of their chief forms of amusement, though 
they may rarely be able to attend a game, is beyond 
calculation. Who does not? 

Characteristics 

Mr. “Casey” shall furnish us our description of the 
characteristics of the game: 

“Such is baseball—our baseball! A good game is a three- 
ringed circus with a tingle of excitement for every moment. 
When a base hit is made, with two men on bases in a close 
game, lightning looks slow and poky in comparison; the ball 
sizzles about burning the air, the men on the field dart like 
streaks, while on the stand twenty thousand mad men worship 
their gods with a great out-cry. 

__ ' (1 ~ II 

42 N. B. Beasley, Baseball — a Business , a Sport , a Gamble. Harpers’ 
Weekly, April 11, 1914, v. 58, p. 27. 

[ 89 ] 







“Such is baseball—our baseball! a game that clutches spec¬ 
tators and squeezes them till they yell; a game that makes 
centenarians dance and howl and throw peanut shells at the 
umpire. There is nothing like it in the way of games.” 43 


Morals 

The moral dangers involved in professional baseball 
are the same as those described under amateur athlet¬ 
ics, with the additional pressure to win at any price 
which comes where such a large financial outlay is in¬ 
volved and where certain stakes go to the winning 
team at the end of the season, if not at other times. 
In the major leagues, however, baseball is such serious 
business and the entire game so reduced to absolute 
rules and regulations that these dangers are only 
rarely apparent. Will Irwin is doubtless right when 
he says; 

“Baseball is no longer like horse-racing and boxing, ‘mere 
excuses for betting.’ Undoubtedly baseball players as a class, 
are today the cleanest body of professional athletes in the 
world.” 

The betting evil so prevalent in connection with 
baseball, is not fostered by the inherent character of 
the sport, nor by the management of the leagues. Bet¬ 
ting and gambling are specific evils of themselves and 
fasten upon any phase of human activity where chance 
or uncertainty enter in. The national game is not to 
be held responsible therefore for these evils which at¬ 
tend it. The rowdyism which likewise manifests it¬ 
self in connection with professional baseball is usually 
the rowdyism of a small section of the crowd rather 
than of the players, although there are occasional lapses 


43 J .P. Casey, Our Great American Game , Independent, August 16, 
1900, v, 61, p. 376, 


[ 90 ] 





on their part into ‘‘mucker ball.” The morality of 
American professional baseball, especially in the 
major leagues, is on the whole nothing less than a na¬ 
tional achievement and expression of America’s love 
of clean sport in honest, hard-fought contests. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 The best place to study professional baseball is 
on the bleachers. The group should go to a league 
game together. In addition to watching the game, 
watch the crowd. Relaxation, good fellowship, blow- 
hardism, and peanuts are everywhere. How good it is 
to be off the job! See this cross-section of America 
down the row of seats! Even if a big, fat, know-it-all 
fan who couldn’t catch a little pop fly sits near you 
criticizing the home team, you may still look upon the 
occasion as one of wholesome amusement. 

2 Watch the crowd after the game; try to form 
some estimate as to what extent the evils of betting and 
rowdyism have fastened themselves to the good of base¬ 
ball in “our town.” 

3 Further material upon professional baseball will 
be found on pages 147, 156 and 211. 

Bibliography 

Baseball 

Books 

Evers, J. J. and Fullerton, H. S. Touching Second: the Science 
of Baseball. Chic. Reilly, 1910. $1.25. 

An authoritative treatise. 

Periodicals 

Beasley, N. B. Baseball, a Business, a Sport, a Gamble. Harp¬ 
er’s Weekly, April 11, 1914, v. 58, p. 27. 

Interesting- figures on professional baseball. 

[91] 



Bruce, H. A. Baseball and the National Life. Outlook, May 17, 

1913, v. 104, pp. 104-107. 

Baseball as an American institution. 

Business Side of Baseball. Current Literature, August, 1912, 
v. 53, pp. 168-172. 

Casey, J. P. Our Great American Game. Independent, August 

16, 1906, v. 61, pp. 375-378. 

Animated account of the good of baseball. 

Close of the Baseball Season. Current Literature, November, 

1910, v. 49, pp. 494-497. 

Interesting figures in league baseball for 1910. 

Cushing, P. M. Playing for What There Is In It. Outing, Sep¬ 
tember, 1900, v. 54, pp. 733-740. 

High pay of professional athletes. 

Fullerton, H. S. Fans. American Magazine, August, 1912, v. 
74, pp. 462-467. 

Fans and their uses. 

Fullerton, H. S. Hitting the Dirt. American Magazine. May, i 

1911, v. 72, pp. 3-16. 

The first of an authoritative descriptive series in this j 
maerazine upon the fine points of professional baseball. 

Know Baseball, Know the American. American Magazine, Sep- ■ 
tember, 1913, v. 76, p. 94. 

Comment on the season. 

Lordner, R. H. Cost of Baseball. Collier’s, March 2, 1912,: 
v, 48, p. 28. 

Interesting calculations. 

Moss, E. B. Dollars Behind the Diamond. Harper’s Weekly, 
August 31, 1912, v. 56, pp. 13-16. 

Preaents the financial factors in a season’s play. 

National Game. Outlook, October 19, 1912, v. 102, pp. 329-330.!: 
Defends its wholesomeness. 

Stewart, C. D. United States of Baseball. Century, June, 1907,1 

v. 74, pp. 307-319. 

Baseball as a national game. Arguments in its favor. S 

Weir, H. C. Men and the Dollars Behind It. World To-Day, 
July, 1909, v. 17, pp. 732-761. 

Describes interesting phases of baseball. 


[ 92 ] 





Boxing 

Extent 

Professional boxing is widely prevalent in America 
under legal restrictions varying in different states. It 
[is confined almost wholly to the cities, and is usually 
conducted under the name of an athletic club or asso¬ 
ciation. 


Characteristics 

Of boxing as a “manly art/’ Theodore Roosevelt 
jsays: 

“I have always been fond of boxing and have always be¬ 
lieved in it as a vigorous, manly pastime, one of those pastimes 
which have a distinct moral and physical value because they 
'encourage such essential virtues as courage, hardihood, en- 
tdurince, self-control.” 44 

It would appear, however, that the manly art, de¬ 
spite its virtues as an amateur sport, lends itself with 
singular fatality to the expression and development of 
Ibrutal instincts when professionalized. As a social 
event, a prize-fight acts like a magnet in drawing to¬ 
gether the lower elements of any city. 

Morals 

On the moral side, prize-fighting is open to the 
charge of extreme brutality, both in itself and in its 
effect upon the spectators. The extension of this bru¬ 
talizing influence through the use of motion pictures 
now makes the prize-fight problem all the more seri¬ 
ous, and the importance of the censorship of motion 
pictures all the more apparent. The race hatred en- 

44 Theodore Roosevelt, Outing, v. 95, p. 550. 

[931 







gendered by the Johnson-Jeffries fight was a sharp 
blow in the face of our social integrity as a nation, 
and on a spot already sore and bruised. Betting and 
gambling enter into the very management of such 
events. “Prize-fighting has become a business, and 
a crooked kind of business at that.” It is indeed those 
who have induced the prize-fighters to make it a busi¬ 
ness who have brought the ring into disrepute. The 
men who do the fighting are often a decent lot com¬ 
pared to their exploiters. 

The degree to which the Reno fight was a great bat¬ 
tle for money stakes, and the extent to which the 
whole miserable affair became the occasion of sensual¬ 
ity, gambling, intoxication, betting and brutality 
make it for recent years a striking hational episode, 
a climax of commercialization and immorality. The 
winner of the contest was estimated to win in all oyei: 
$600,000, and the loser more than half that sum. 45 

The morals of the occasion, which were typical, are I 
well described by an English journalist, who says: 

“I suppose there has never been collected in one place before 
such a body of sharps, thugs, and toughs, as descended on the 
Truckee Valley for this famous fight. As train after train 
disgorged its load, the bars and gambling houses grew 
fuller and fuller. No one seemed to have any thought or 
desire beyond drink, the spin of the roulette wheel, and the< 
endless discussion of the coming fight. The whole atmosphere 
was unbearably squalid and dull. 

“The typical modern ‘fight fan’ is a bar-room loafer, a 
gambler, a creature equally foul in his language and in his 
thoughts. Compared with him the pugilist is as Hyperion to 
a satyr .” 46 

13-14', May if,’mo?* Rina/or “ Million, Harper’s Weekly, v. 54,- pp. 
low!’ v H '95, y TO.’g'k?,* 829 Prize - n e ht Tm Oht Me, Outlook, August 13, 


T941 








These are but the logical climaxes of the universal 
tendencies which always seem to be prevalent in prize¬ 
fighting. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 All the essential facts about prize fights may be 
discovered without attendance at the ring side. A 
round-by-round description of any fast fight, as re¬ 
corded by the newspapers, will bring the uninitiated 
to an appreciation of the moral elements which are in¬ 
volved. Any study of the fight fan as a type will be 
amply illustrative of the characteristics which the 
business develops. 

2 Further material upon professional boxing will 
be found on pages 148, 211. 


Bibliography 


Boxing 

Boolcs 

London, Jack. Game. Macmillan, New York, 1912, $1.50. 


Periodicals 

Brewster, G. O. “Boxing”—as a Game. Harper’s Weekly, 
June, 1910, v. 54, p. 25. 

Davenport, H. C. Modern Cave Man. Collier, June 11, 1910, 
v. 45, p. 19. 

In the Jeffries training - camp. 

Fyffe, H. H. What the Prize-Fight Taught Me. Outlook, Au¬ 
gust 13, 1910, v. 95, pp. 827-830. 

Suggestive meditations which make clear the moral is¬ 
sues at stake. 

Inglis, William. Apotheosis of La Boxe. Harper’s Weekly, 
August 31, 1912, v. 56, pp. 22-23. 

Intellectuality of the New Pugilism. Current Opinion, Febru¬ 
ary, 1913, v. 54, pp. 130-131. 

Interprets the art of boxing. 

[ 95 ] 






Lyon, H. M. In Reno Riotous. Hampton, September, 1910, 

v. 25, pp. 386-396. 

The flavor of the occasion is preserved for the gentle 
reader. 

Moss, E. B. In the Ring for a Million. Harper’s Weekly, 

May 14, 1910, v. 54, pp. 13-14. 

The enormous sums involved in the Jeffries-Johnson 
fight for the world’s championship. 

Osborn, E. B. The Revival of Boxing. Nineteenth Century, 
October, 1911, v. 70, pp. 771-781. 

A vigorous English defense of boxing and prize fighting. 

Prize Fight Moving Pictures. Outlook, July 16, 1910, v. 95, 

pp. 541-542. 

Editorial comment. 

Recent Prize-Fight. Outlook, July 16, 1910, v. 95, pp. 550-551. 
An editorial. 

Roosevelt, Theodore. Recent Prize-Fight. Outlook, July 16, 

1910, v. 95, pp. 550-551. 

Boxing vs. prize fight. 


V Special Amusement Places 

1 COMMERCIAL AMUSEMENT PARKS 

The fourth phase of the amusement situation to be 
studied is that of special amusement places. Here we 
may group electric parks, lake, river and shore resorts, 
“white cities/’ and the “midway” of many public 
parks, all the glittering train of large-scale amusement 
enterprises which have Coney Island for their dazzling 
headlight. 

Extent 

Such enterprises are a leading feature in the amuse¬ 
ment offerings of most of our cities of any size. Their 
attractions are often highly spectacular and widely 
advertised over the neighboring territory. They at¬ 
tract, therefore, great masses of people to them. One 
Coney Island resort alone has registered above 5,000,000 


[ 96 ] 



paid admissions in a single season, and the weekly 
attendance has more than once exceeded 500,000 
| people. 47 

The Kansas City Recreation Survey indicates that: 

“The five summer amusement parks of Kansas City, Mo., are 
• reported to have had in the summer of 1911 an attendance for 
' the season of 1,991,780, and an expenditure by patrons of 
$669,605.” 

Characteristics 

The enormous popularity of these enterprises inten¬ 
sifies their national significance. Their leading char¬ 
acteristics are worthy of careful study. The key to 
the enterprise in most cases is the necessity and means 
of transportation to some site of natural beauty 
where the resort is established. The transportation 
company in control of the situation is usually the im¬ 
portant factor. The park features of the enterprise 
are often well developed either by the company itself 
or by the municipality which licenses the amusement 
features in connection w T ith a public park already es¬ 
tablished. The amusement features of the enterprise 
are developed by the sale of concessions or rentals, or 
by the operation of these features by the company it¬ 
self. These enterprises, usually active during the sum¬ 
mer only, cater to the crowd as a crowd and the 
‘‘carnival spirit” or crowd consciousness is essential 
to the largest success. In actual operation, the fea¬ 
tures of natural beauty—the lake, the ocean, the com¬ 
manding view—are effective upon the people princi¬ 
pally before they come. Once at the resort, the com¬ 
mercial amusement features reign supreme. They are 

tT R. W. Neal, New York’s City of Play , World Today, v. 11, p. 
820, August 1906. 


7 


[97] 








developed and staged with ingenuity of insistent ap¬ 
peal. The crowd is barked and badgered, deceived 
and enticed into buying thrills of fleeting pleasure on 
shoot-the-shoots, topsy-turvy novelties, fake side¬ 
shows, sensational joy rides, corrousels, ferris-wheels, 
merry-go-rounds, acrobatic shows, chariot races, dare¬ 
devil dives, scenic panoramas, and the like. Some of 
them are harmless, some of them thoroughly vicious; 
many of them out-and-out fakes; all of them frankly 
sensational in appeal, and all calculated to separate 
the people from their money with the least possible 
return. Commercial profit is obviously the dominating 
factor in their provision. Feats of skill and daring are 
often performed, but the very sensationalism upon 
which they depend creates an ever-increasing demand 
for more risks on the part of performers, until death 
stares them constantly in the face. 

Morals 

Sensationalism is the basis of appeal in these amuse¬ 
ment enterprises, and is the key to a study of their . 
moral influence. While their influence may be genu¬ 
inely elevating if the features of natural beauty are 
emphasized and spectacular features are not devel¬ 
oped ; or neutral if sensationalism is not carried far 
nor specific evils permitted. These parks as actually*! 
operated near most large cities are often thoroughly 
debasing in their influence. The sale of liquor is 
widely prevalent. A large number of unescorted 
young girls and boys stroll about, an easy prey for ex¬ 
ploitation and are often lured into immorality under 
stress of unusual excitement or temptation in the glit¬ 
tering or unlighted portions of these parks. The car¬ 
nival spirit of freedom and relaxation frequently de- 



198 ] 




generates into one of license and gross immorality in 
the public dancing pavilions and unlighted places. 
The modern dances have intensified these tendencies, 
and speeded up the process by which the morals of 
the innocent are broken down. 

The costumes and conduct of many young women at 
public bathing beaches are likewise a direct incitement 
to immorality and serve as an advertisement of char¬ 
acter. 

The objectionable features of the Kansas City re¬ 
sorts, which are fairly typical, are described as fol¬ 
lows : 

“Dark concessions, unsupervised bathing pools, petty gam¬ 
bling, indecently suggestive pictures, indecent dancing exhibi¬ 
tions, dark unpoliced parts of the park, and the permission of 
young children to remain in the parks unaccompanied until 
the closing hours, are features that should be corrected for 
the sake of the child at least.” 

The penny amusement parlors have indecent pic¬ 
tures, patronized by minors, and need censorship. 

“The picture machines were topped off by lurid signs and 
i suggestive pictures inviting the patron to look into the ma- 
( chine and see something racy.” 

The dance halls are characterized thus: 

“These concessions are very popular. Many of both sexes 
i go there unaccompanied and meet company. Prostitutes and 
I men seeking prey mingle with those seeking innocent amuse¬ 
ment.” 

Gambling devices are also frequently prevalent at 
commercial amusement parks. 

All these evils are increased by the close proximity 
I of questionable hotels where no registration by guests 
is required. 


[ 99 ] 



Suggestions for Group Discussion 


1 These parks may be studied by many groups, j 
either as a whole or in small sections in visits taken 
for the purpose under wise leadership. A number of 
features should be watched for. Do the people get 
real recreation and pleasure or merely excitement and 
novelty? What seems to be the effect upon people 
who go regularly? Do they keep their freshness of 
feeling, or does everything grow stale, except the 
latest dangerous performance or an atmosphere of im¬ 
moral license? Can you form a judgment of the char¬ 
acter of a show by the sort of appeal it makes and the 
attractions it offers? What conditions prevail as to 
intoxication and the sale of liquor? Is there a public 
dancing pavilion? Are immoral dances in vogue? 
Are young girls thrown into contact with vicious men 
and immoral women ? What conditions develop late at 
night? What happens on the late cars returning to 
the city? Is there any adequate policing of the park? 

Is it outside the city limits, and under the control of 

a corrupt county administration? 

2 It is noteworthy that the amusement features of 
many agricultural fairs are identical with those of 


amusement parks and frequently quite obscure the ag¬ 


ricultural interests of the fair. 

3 Further material upon commercial amusement 
parks will be found on pages 130, 148, 180, 205 and 212. 


[ 100 ] 




Bibliography 


Commercial Amusement Parks 

BooJcs 

Reference should be made to material upon commercial 
amusement parks contained in the recreation surveys and 
reports listed under I, The Amusement Situation in General. 

Hartt, R. L. The Amusement Park The People at Play, 1909, 
pp. 43-85. 

Henry, O. Brick Dust Row. The Trimmed Lamp, Doubleday, 
New York. $1. 

Henry, O. The Greater Coney. Sixes and Sevens, Doubleday, 
New York, 1911. $1.20. 


Periodicals 

Davis, C. B. Renaissance of Coney. Outing, August, 1906, 
v. 48, pp. 513-522. 

Description of the old Coney and the new. 

Denison, Lindsay. The Biggest Playground in the World. 

Munsey, August, 1905, v. 33, pp. 557—566. 

Account of the dazzling- and deafening- variety of enter¬ 
tainment, and the remarkable transformation the Island 
has undergone. 

LeGallienne, Richard. Human Need of Coney Island. Cosmo¬ 
politan, July, 1905, v. 39, pp. 239-246. 

Illustrated account of Coney Island, the need of its ex¬ 
istence as a palace of illusion and pleasure demanded by 
the American people. 

Neal, R. W. New York’s City of Play. World To-Day, August, 
1906, v. 11, pp. 818-826. 

Graphic picture of Coney Island, disclosing demoralizing 
amusements. Illustrated. 

Walters, Theodore. New York’s New Playground. Harper’s 
Weekly, July 8, 1905, v. 49, pp. 976-980. 

Illustrated account of Coney Island, with its effect upon 
the throngs which fill it. 


[ 101 ] 





2 RACE TRACK PARKS 


Extent 

Amusement parks solely devoted to horse racing are 
not many in number, but extend their influence as 
an important element in the amusement problem by 
means of race track pool rooms and through news¬ 
paper and telegraph reports. They thus reach a clien¬ 
tage of several million people who £ ‘follow,” and most 
of whom bet on, the races. Reliable figures of total 
attendances, gate receipts, and profits from race 
tracks, bookmaking, and pool-rooms are impossible to 
obtain but doubtless run to enormous sums. 

The Encyclopaedia Brittanica is authority for the 
following: 

“Owing to the vast size of the country there are various 
centers of sport, which can be classified with reasonable ac¬ 
curacy as follows: the Eastern States, dominated by the Jockey 
Club; the Middle Western States, under the control of the 
Western Jockey Club, whose headquarters are in Chicago; the 
Pacific Coast, with San Francisco as its center; and the South¬ 
ern and South-Western States, with Louisville as the most 
important center. * * * What New York is to the east, 

Chicago is to the middle west, and a very large proportion of 
American racing is conducted close to these centers. In New 
York State the Coney Island Jockey Club, at Sheepshead Bay; 
The Brooklyn Jockey Club, at Gravesend; The Westchester 
Racing Association, at Morris Park; The Brighton Beach Rac¬ 
ing Association, at Brighton Beach; the Queen’s County Jockey 
Club at Aqueduct; and the Saratoga Racing Association, at 
Saratoga, are the leading organizations. All these race 
courses, with the exception of Saratoga, are within a radius 
of 20 miles of the city. * * * The Washington Park Club 

at Chicago is the leading turf body of the west, and the only 
one on an equal footing with the prominent associations of 
New York State. With this single exception the most im- 


[ 102 ] 




portant and valuable stakes of the American turf are given in 
the east; and so great has the prosperity of the Turf been 
[ since the Jockey Club came into existence that the list of rich 
f prizes is growing at a surprising rate.” 48 


Characteristics 

There should be clearly distinguished from these rdce 
track parks, at which the betting interests largely con- 
j trol the situation, the racing circuits of agricultural and 
other fairs. Purses for the winning horses are offered 
by the fair management, horses are taken from one 
fair to another, and local horses are entered. These 
racing circuits spread throughout the country, some 
times covering one or two states or extending over a 
large section as the Great Western which includes 
tracks between Cleveland, Ohio, and Phoenix, Arizona. 

The races conducted by agricultural fairs have for 
the most part been well managed, furnishing a spec¬ 
tacular form of entertainment, improving the breed 
of horses, and have been kept comparatively free of 
domination by the betting interests. 

The income which provides the necessary expenses 
and prize money at commercial race tracks is derived 
in addition to income from gate receipts and the like 
from the bookmaker’s privilege. The following ex¬ 
tract from a newspaper description of racing at Havre 
de Grace, Md., will reveal the essential points of the 
system and some side lights. It is generally under¬ 
stood that bookmakers so manipulate the odds that 
they are sure to win against the public. 

“But the bulk of the crowd was made up of race track regu¬ 
lars. Since the Percy Gray and the Horton laws put a crimp 
in betting at race tracks in New York, the race track devotee 

48 Encyclopedia Brittanica, v. 13, p. 736. 

[ 103 ] 







has been held in restraint. So, with a chance of letting loose 
some of the pent-up enthusiasm, he was here in all his glory 
today. In the crowd were noticed many faces familiar at the 
race tracks of New York, while many veterans of the game 
identified with the sport when the old Gloucester track was in 
its prime mingled with the newcomers, peered at the “dope” 
sheets, and fingered their bank-rolls with all the enthusiasm 
of the olden days. 

“Men discarded their dignity with their coats and collars, 
and pushed the bookmakers a merry pace to get all bets placed. 
There was little heavy play. Men occasionally cashed checks 
for $500 and lesser amounts that still ran to three figures, but 
the biggest part of the chancing was done with five and ten 
dollar notes. But it is a fair estimate to say that 70 per cent 
of the ones inside the grounds patronized the betting ring 
and its opportunities. 

“The betting ring is a source of rich income to the associa¬ 
tion. Jack Cavanaugh, known to all devotees of the running 
tracks, has charge of this inclosure and his ability to handle it 
and protect those who wager their money is accepted as proof 
that racing at Havre de Grace is going to be on the level. The 
income derived from the bookmakers’ privilege is large and 
goes to make up the purses offered in the races. It is ex¬ 
pected that when the new track is running at its height, at 
least fifty bookmakers will occupy stools in the ring. 

“Hundreds of men well known in political and private life 
in Philadelphia were seen among the throng today. The politi¬ 
cians were always active in the betting ring and in the third 
race Reybourn was the strongest kind of a tip among the 
henchmen of the former Mayor of Philadelphia. The good 
thing went through, too, for Reybourn beat the barrier, got 
off in front, and was never in danger, having plenty of re¬ 
serve speed to stand off the rush of the long shot, Pretend, at 
the finish. The political contingent ‘cashed’ and was in good 
humor for the remainder of the afternoon.” 49 

Betting is also carried on extensively in race track 
pool rooms which are operated secretly in the larger 
cities, especially in New York and Chicago. The 

49 Philadelphia Public Ledger, August 25, 27, 1912. 

[104] 




news of races comes direct from the tracks by tele¬ 
graph and telephone and is essential to the existence 
of pool rooms. The telegraph and telephone compan¬ 
ies are primarily responsible, therefore, for the per¬ 
petuation of the evils connected with them. 


Morals 

The morals connected with race track parks are one 
with the morals of gambling and betting everywhere, 
although these evils seem to have been more closely 
identified with horse racing than any other form of 
sport. Great numbers of people of all occupations 
and in all portions of society have been caught by the 
mania for unearned money and have in many cases 
been brought to ruin. There is perhaps no more in¬ 
sidious evil in American life today than the gambling 
spirit which is the perfect expression of commercial¬ 
ism in relation to any sport. It cuts the nerve of 
clean and wholesome competition in all forms of play. 


Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 The general question of betting in relation to 
sport may well be discussed at this point. It may be 
considered from the point of view of its influence 
upon the bettor and also its effect upon the moral and 
business stability of a town where it prevails. 

2 See the chapter on the subject in the author’s 
Christianity and Popular Amusements. 

3 Further material upon race track parks will be 
found on pages 149 and 212. 


[ 105 ] 




Bibliography 


Race Track Parks 


Bool'S 

Bliss, V/. D. P. Gambling, Encyclopedia of Social Reform, 1908, 
p. 530. 

A concise description of race track gambling, as well as 
other forms, is- given. 

Horse Racing, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, The Encyclopaedia 
Brittanica company, New York, 1910-11, v. 13, pp. 734-736. 

Admirable general statement of the situation in the 
United States. See index for articles on kindred subjects. 

Rowntree, B. S., ed. Betting and Gambling, a National Evil. 

Macmillan, 1905. $1.60. 

Written from an English point of view, the book con¬ 
tains interesting facts concerning the extent and forms of 
gambling with suggestions as to legislative control. 


Periodicals 

Fullerton, H. S. American Gambling and Gamblers. American 

Magazine, February and March, 1914, v. 77, pp. 33-38, 57-60. 

A resume of the gambling situation. 

Flynt, Josiah. Poolroom Vampire and its Money Mad Victims. 

Cosmopolitan, February, 1907, v. 42, pp. 359-371. 

The first of a series of five articles in succeeding num¬ 
bers of the Cosmopolitan upon the destructive influence of 
racetrack and pool rooms. 

France, C. J. The Gambling Impulse. American Journal of 

Psychology, February, 1902, v. 13, pp. 364-407. 

Scholarly study of the psychology of gambling. 

Race Track Betting. Charities and the Commons, March 14, 
1908, v. 19, pp. 1735-1736. 

Extracts from letters prompted by Governor .Hughes’ 
campaign against race track betting. 

Riis, J. A. Gambling Mania. Century, April, 1907, v. 73, 
pp. 925-927. 

Gambling has become a national evil. 

Scott, Leroy. Horse Racing and the Public. World’s Work, 
August, 1906, v. 12, pp. 7867-7879. 

Showing the dependence of racing upon gambling and 
the effect upon our social life. 

Sport of Kings—or of Gamblers. Outlook, September 9, 1911, 
v., 99, pp. 57-58. 

Editorial comment on race track gambling. 

Sullivan, Mark. Pool Room Evil. Outlook, May 28, 1905, v. 77, 

pp. 212-216. ’ ' 

Explains pool rooms and bookmaking and their evasion 
of New York’s inadequate law. 

1106 ] 




Tobenkin, Elias. Petty Gambling: a Problem of the Poor. 

World To-Day, May, 1910, v. 18, pp. 512-514. 

Wilson, T. B. Making of Criminals Through the Race Track. 

. Overland, November, 1908, n. s. v. 52, pp. 444—448. 

The California Joekey Club at Emeryville—one of the 
nation’s greatest agencies in making criminals. 

Works, J. D. Race Track Evil and the Newspapers. Arena, 
April, 1908, v. 39, pp. 427-429. 

Plea for' reform in newspaper columns now devoted to 
race track items. 


VI Special Amusement Events 

Extent 

Into the life of every community there come spe- 
cial amusement events. A circus comes to town. A 
group of men get up a street fair. A holiday is turned 
into a carnival. A military encampment or a firemen’s 
convention is held. The railroad runs a special ex¬ 
cursion to a nearby city, to the county or state fair. 
Some organization gets up a public picnic or a clam¬ 
bake. In New York, a Tammany leader “gives” his 
henchmen an outing. In Chicago, but recently, two 
notorious aldermen “gave” the first ward hall. Elec¬ 
tion night and New Year’s night in the great cities 
have become modern saturnalias. Automobile and 
motor cycle races are widely advertized and draw 
j I visitors from miles about. The number of events of 
[ this sort it is obviously impossible to determine except 
■ locally. 


Characteristics 

No phase of the amusement problem is more worthy 
of study than these events., for they bulk large in the 
life of every community, and often carry with them a 
spontaneous interest and excitement which gives them 




unique influence. It is significant that the crowd spirit 
usually dominates them. Their characteristics and 
their moral influence vary so widely that few general 
statements can he made. It is clear, however, that 
they may be more important in the experience of a 
boy or girl, a young man or woman, than months of 
ordinary living, or any number of customary pleas¬ 
ures. The vividness with which they are anticipated 
and remembered is a sufficient indication of their im¬ 
portance. How frequently the conversation of Amer¬ 
ican youth runs upon this lofty reminiscence, “It cer¬ 
tainly was a time.” 


Morals 

Events of this class are especially significant on the 
moral side because their management usually lacks the 
permanence and responsibility which ordinarily char¬ 
acterizes an amusement institution in which some 
property investment and social reputation are in¬ 
volved. 

The forces of evil take a special advantage of many 
of these events. Liquor is almost sure to be dispensed 
more freely than usual, and special permits are fre¬ 
quently issued by the licensing authorities. An out¬ 
break of gambling more or less secret is likely to oc-' 
cur, and vicious men often import immoral women for 
these occasions. A special event may be staged in a 
day or a night and secretly manipulated by a few men 
to the moral undoing of a multitude,—an event that 
would never be tolerated in a decent town, if it were 
not dependent upon the crowd spirit, the suddenness 
of its occurrence, and the secrecy with which it was 
planned. 

To a large number of people in every community, a 
[ 108 ] 




special event of this sort is always the occasion for a 
period of extraordinary license. To many more it is 
a time of unusual moral strain and temptation. Things 
may be done under special excitement or intoxication 
which would never be indulged in under ordinary cir¬ 
cumstances. A man or woman, a boy or girl, may be 
left maimed or diseased for life. This, as a matter of 
fact, is what America is suffering at the hands of 
amusement promoters and may expect to have foisted 
upon it increasingly unless the movement for well- 
conducted public pageants and festivals as part of a 
constructive recreation program is able to counteract it. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 This topic makes an especially important study. 
The literature on many subjects which are suggested 
for discussion is small, but the local importance of 
these unrecorded events looms large. 

2 Make this topic an object of special investigation 
locally. List the events of this sort which have hap¬ 
pened in or near “our town” the last five years. Es¬ 
timate the number of people who participated in them. 
Who was back of them? What motives led to their 
being planned? What evils crept in? What effect 
upon particular people can be traced to some event of 
this type? 

3 Study the present tendency in your own and sur¬ 
rounding towns and cities to “get up” this sort of 
event. Are there the sort of men in the management 
who will insure its moral as well as its spectacular suc¬ 
cess? Study especially the effect of these events upon 
children and young people. Do you see any way in 
which more efficient supervision could be attained? 
The members of the group should recall and, in some 


[ 109 ] 



cases, state their impressions of events of this char¬ 
acter made upon them during childhood. 

4 Further material upon special amusement events 
will be found on pages 149, 189 and 212. 


1 HOLIDAYS AND SIMILAR CELEBRATIONS 




Extent and Characteristics 


General holidays, numbering eight or nine in most 
states yearly, release the bulk of the population from ; 
their round of work to free days of recreation. The 
harder and more confining the daily round, the more 
significant is the day of freedom, and the less prepared 
is the worker likely to be for its wise use. The holi- \ 
day for the great mass of workers is, therefore, a rare 
boon, and in many instances a special problem. 

Holidays naturally bring an outburst of the amuse¬ 
ment spirit. The form of that outburst, the degree to 
which it is shaped by the traditions of the day, or 
utilized by amusement promoters, is highly significant. 
The characteristics of the “insane” Fourth, still prev¬ 
alent in many communities, are too familiar to need 
statement here. 

Election and New Year’s nights frequently bring 
special problems in the larger cities where they are 1 
coming increasingly to take on the character of enor¬ 
mous crowd demonstrations. The carnival spirit de¬ 
velops with the use of confetti, horns, and various 
other devices by which promiscuous horse-play spreads 
abroad on the streets. The lawlessness of this mood 
develops an element of heedless cruelty m the atti¬ 
tudes of large numbers of young men. There is an es¬ 
pecially large consumption of liquor on such nights 


[ 110 ] 



as these, and cafes with amusement features sell out 
their available seating space long in advance. The in¬ 
creasing exploitation of all such occasions by com¬ 
mercial amusement interests is obscuring the original 
significance of our holidays. 

With the study of legal holidays should be consid¬ 
ered those special occasions which are worked up more 
or less often in every community, such as street fairs 
and various shoAvs, carnivals, firemen’s conventions 
and the like, many of which are accompanied by the 
features prevailing in amusement resorts. This whole 
tendency, indeed, finds its climax in special carnivals 
at highly commercialized amusement parks. 

These events vary so widely that a statement of 
their extent or specific characterization of them here is 
not possible. 


Morals 

The general moral standards and conditions of any 
community, and the immediate management of each 
event, will largely determine the morals of those occa¬ 
sions. The forces of evil in any community, however, 
are almost sure to fasten upon them for special activ¬ 
ity, and frequently do a record business in demoraliz¬ 
ing citizens and visitors for the sake of financial profit 
to themselves. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 It is highly important to study the local use of 
holidays and direct their celebration into such public 
activities as are described in the chapter on Holiday 
Celebrations and Community Festivals, page 189. 

2 What are the moral conditions in “our town” on 
holiday evenings? 


[ill] 






3 Do conditions in the factories and business places 
on the morning after indicate that the majority of 
workers know how to use their freedom wisely? 

4 How nearly sane has the celebration of the 
“Fourth” become in “our town?” 


2 EXCURSIONS AND OUTINGS 

Extent and Characteristics 

Public excursions and outings are everywhere popu¬ 
lar and important events. No estimate of their ex¬ 
tent can be made except locally. 

They are a natural expression of the desire for free¬ 
dom and release from the daily grind. Congestion 
in living conditions, and the speeding up process in 
industry, accentuate this desire and increase the pop¬ 
ularity of amusement parks and resorts to which ex¬ 
cursions frequently go. Outings and picnics are often 
conducted by loosely organized clubs or associations 
which are at bottom really commercial enterprises. 
The political picnic or clambake is an especially in¬ 
teresting feature of American life. The conditions of 
travel in all such events play an important part. 

Morals 

An excursion by rail or boat may be so long, and the 
crowd of such a character that moral integrity is put 
under the heaviest strain and a spirit of license may 
develop with free social mingling of the crowd which 
loosens the ordinary sanctions of morality. Such a 
spirit may easily characterize a public picnic or gen¬ 
eral excursion, and is, in fact, often cultivated by the 


[ 112 ] 




management, especially where liquor is sold and in¬ 
toxication results. 

The description of certain of these excursions in 
recreation surveys and vice reports indicates the pres¬ 
ence of the worst evils including the use of staterooms 
on day boats for immoral purposes. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 Study the number of excursions from or to your 
town during a summer season. What are the most 
popular forms? Are the boats or other conveyances 
properly provided with physical safeguards? What are 
the conditions generally prevailing toward the end of 
the day or trip ? Is liquor sold openly or secretly ? Does 
immorality creep in? 

2 Study the moral consequences of automobile ex¬ 
cursions by small parties of young people unchaper¬ 
oned. George J. Kneeland writes the author as fol¬ 
lows : 11 To my mind the automobile is one of the 
chief sources of seduction now used. Young men with 
cars at their disposal are the chief offenders. They 
seek out attractive department store or high school 
girls for these excursions and the girls are wild to go.” 


[ 113 ] 




Bibliography 


Special Amusement Events 

Reference should be made to material upon special amuse¬ 
ment events of various forms, contained in the recreation 
surveys and reports listed under I, The Amusement Situa¬ 
tion in General. 


Holiday and Similar Celebrations 

Boolcs 

Schauffler, R. H. Independence Day. Our American Holiday 
Series, Moffatt, 1912. $1. 

A comprehensive treatment of the development, abuses I 
and possibilities of the day. 

Periodicals 

Cains, William. Election Night in New York. Harper ’s , 

Weekly, November 7, 1908, v. 52, p. 10. 

Illustrated account of the celebration. 

Frazer, R. F. Making Thrills for the Night Fans. Technical 

World, August, 1913, v. 19, pp. 838—841. 

Motor cycle racing’. 

Independence Day—the Modern Moloch. Review of Reviews, 
June, 1910, v. 41, pp. 735-736. 

Ravages of “Fourth of July” tetanus. 

Irwin, Will. The First Ward Ball. Collier, February 6, 1909, v. 
42, pp. 16-17. 

“L.ed by Bathhouse John, ten thousand joyless reveling 
pickpockets, bartenders, prostitutes and police captains 
celebrate the reign of graft, while grief-stricken Hinky 
Dink sways in the corner.” The illustrations by McCut- 
cheon breathe the atmosphere of the occasion. 

Our Murderous Patriotism. Harper’s Weekly, June 11, 1910 v ' 
54, p. 24. ’ ’ 

Figures and opinions on the casualties of the Fourth of 
July. 

The Fourth of July, Outlook, July 19, 1913, v. 104, pp. 596-597. ! 

Toll of the Fourth. Collier, July 2, 1910, v. 45, p. 15. 

“Harmless” devices resulting in 29, 296 killed and wounded i 
in the past six years. 


Excursions and Outings 

Reference should be made to recreation surveys and reports 
of vice commissions. 


[ 114 ] 







3 THE CIRCUS 


Extent, Characteristics, Morals 

The circus is an institution of large significance to 
American youth, whether it be among the many one- 
ring country affairs, or the half dozen or more claim¬ 
ing to be the “greatest show on earth.” Its local 
manifestation may be looked upon as a temporary epi¬ 
demic, and hence it is placed among Special Amuse¬ 
ment Events. 

Its familiar traveling zoo, its clowns, trained ani¬ 
mals, acrobats, and aerial performers, have important 
educational and amusement values, and the fact that 
the circus is attended by so many parents with chil¬ 
dren acts as a moral disinfectant. The further fact 
that a high degree of skill and steadiness are required 
by many of the performers, tends to check some of the 
excesses which other traveling amusement troops often 
indulge in. 


Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 What amusement values are brought by the cir¬ 
cus only, to great numbers of American children and 
young people? The members of the group might inter¬ 
pret very briefly their early impression. 

2 What dangers lurk in the neighborhood of the 
tents of travelling shows? 


[ 115 ] 



Bibliography 


The Circus 

Books 

Me Farlane, A. E. Redney McGaw, Little, 1909. $1.50. 

Gives a happy picture of life in the circus. 

Metcalfe, Francis. Side Show Studies. Outing, 1906. $1.25. 

“Anecdotal short stories of circus life—absurd, amus¬ 
ing.” A. L. A. Booklist. 

Thompson, W. C. On the Road with a Circus. New Amsterdam, 

N. Y. 1905. $1.00. 

“Unexaggerated and entertaining.” A. L. A. Booklist. 
Periodicals 

Bergengren, Ralph. Taking the Circus Seriously. Atlantic, 

May, 1909, v. 103, pp. 672-679. 

An interpretative study of the circus. 

Davis, C. B. Visit to the Circus. Outing, May, 1904, v. 44, 
pp. 145-153. 

A sympathetic description of the circus. 

Harriman, K. E. Social Side of the Circus. Cosmopolitan, 

July, 1906, v. 41, pp. 309-318. 

An inside view of circus life. Illustrated. 

Inglis, William. Gentlemen—The Circus! April 13, 1912, v. 56, 

p. 10. 

Irwin, Wallace. At the Sign of the Three Rings. Collier, 

May 4, 1912, v. 49, p. 18. 

Circus talk. 

Johnson, Martyn. A day With the Circus. World To-Day, 

July, 1910, v. 19, pp. 709-715. 

An interesting description. 

Weir, H. C. Other Side of the Circus. World To-Day, Septem¬ 
ber, 1908, v. 15, pp. 905-912. 

A look into circus life. 

We Visit the Circus. Harper's Weekly, March 29, 1913 v 57 

on 









4 AMUSEMENT FEATURES OF FAIRS 


Extent, Characteristics and Morals 

The amusement features of our prevalent agricul¬ 
tural fairs and exhibitions may well be studied under 
Special Events, for they are occasional in occurrence 
and last but a few days in a place. They capitalize 
the same crowd spirit as the other events here treated. 
The agricultural exhibits, wholesome as they are, 
stand in striking contrast to the usual commercial at¬ 
tractions. These frequently embrace most of the fea¬ 
tures of holiday celebrations and excursions, the 
cheapest sideshows and vaudeville, public dancing, and 
the varigated novelty features of amusement parks. Au¬ 
tomobile races, aeroplane exhibitions, or baloon ascen¬ 
sions, are ordinarily provided by the management. 
The total result of the commercial offerings at many 
fairs is that the agricultural features are largely ob¬ 
scured and the people from the surrounding country 
are fleeced by fakirs and charlatans. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 What conditions obtain at the fair in or near 
our town?” How important in the lives of country 

people are the cheap amusements offered there? What 
idea of fun do country boys get from them? 

2 By what system and standard of judgment are 
the concessions granted to amusement enterprises? Is 
there any system of inspection? 


[ 117 ] 



Bibliography 


Amusement Features of Fairs 

Periodicals 

Hamilton, J. Influences Exerted by Agricultural Fairs. Annals 

of the American Academy. March, 1912, v. 40 pp. 200—210. 
A general presentation. 

Ruhl, A. At the County Fair. Collier, August 16, 1913, v. 51, 

pp. 20-21. 

Set forth in all its glory. 

Howells, W. D. Fairs in America. Harper’s Monthly, Decem¬ 
ber, 1902, v. 106, pp. 163—167. 

Describes the average county or state fair. 

Lloyd-Jones, Richard. The Significance of State Fairs. Collier, 

v. 46, October 1, 1910, pp. 16-17. 

The work done by the state Harvest Festivals to ad¬ 
vance industrial welfare. 


5 AUTOMOBILE RACES 

Extent, Characteristics and Morals 

The invention of the automobile released a new 
world of sensation. The enthusiasm which has swept 
the country for this great discovery has been seized 
upon by automobile manufacturers for advertising pur¬ 
poses, and by amusement interests for easy profits. 
Automobile races are widely prevalent at fairs and^ 
elsewhere as special amusement events. These races 
are hazardous in the extreme. The life of the racer is 
in constant jeopardy, and that of the spectator fre¬ 
quently so. The following extract from “How I Won 
the Vanderbilt Cup,” is a sufficient indictment of these 
races as ordinarily conducted. It tells the story of a 
race in which there were four hours of gruelling con- 


1118 ] 


test, and drivers and crowd were in imminent peril. 
Such experiences as this at a dangerous turn were 
of frequent occurrence. 

“Between the swerving Fiat and the inner rim of the road 
was an opening of possibly ten feet. The great crowd swayed 
backward as the Darracq hurtled into the breach straight 
ahead. Only the two left wheels were on the ground. A false 
move and the car would have turned completely over. * * * 

Over the next ten miles of road we were moving at the rate of 
a hundred miles an hour. * * * We were away again, this 

time with every ounce of power in play, with care and caution 
thrown to the winds and with everything hazarded in a genu¬ 
ine death gamble. There was no more stopping or slackening 
at turns, no further fear or concern over the reckless crowds 
that, by this time were pressing so far on to the course that 
for miles there was only a narrow lane open between staring 
human walls. And the climax? A mile from the finish it be¬ 
came evident that the dense mass of spectators was beyond 
control. Dare-deviltry was in the atmosphere. * * * As 

in a trance the bugle sounded, and the next moment with a 
flash and volley, the Darracq was over the tape—a winner .” 50 

The death and accident list from this sort of driv¬ 
ing has reached a large total. The speed mania takes 
possession of the crowd as well as of the drivers, and 
the attitude of some of the managers of these events is 
reflected in such posters as this: “Auto races this after¬ 
noon. Dare-devil drivers race with death on famous 
figure eight track regardless of life or limb.” 


r, ° Louis Wagner, IIow I Won the Vanderbilt Cup, Outing, October, 
1909, p. 788. 


[ 119 ] 






Bibliography 


Automobile Races 

Periodicals 

Commercial Murder. Outlook, September 30, 1911, v. 99, pp. 

258-259. 

An indictment of automobile racing-. 

Fox, E. L. Speed Kings. Hampton, July, 1910, v. 25, pp. 

57-68. 

Automobile racers. 

George, H. C. Shaking Dice with Death. Collier, January 15, 

1910, v. 44, p. 15. 

Risking life in the perilous game of automobile racing. 

Hamans, J. E. Meaning of the Vanderbilt Cup Race. Outing, 

November, 1906, v. 49, pp. 258-272. 

Nathan, G. J. Hazards of the Vanderbilt Cup Race. Outing, 

January, 1910, v. 55, pp. 477-482. 

Describes accidents and narrow escapes. 

Nesbit, W. D. $50,000 for Speed. Collier, June 21, 1913, v. 51, 
pp. 7-8. 

Wagner, Louis. How I Won the Vanderbilt Cup. Outing, 

March, 1907, v. 49, pp. 785-789. 

This record is sufficient indictment of the sport. 

Wagner, F. J. Automobile Racing in America. Collier, Jan¬ 
uary 11, 1913, v. 50, suppl. pp. 39-40. 

A general presentation. 


6 AEROPLANE EXHIBITIONS AND BALLOON 
ASCENSIONS 

The stupendous discovery of flight by heavier-than- 
air machines has offered a new thriller among -amuse¬ 
ment events. Aviation meets enjoyed an unprece¬ 
dented popularity in the first flush of enthusiasm over 
flying and still draw large crowds wherever they are 
offered as attractions. Spectacular flights by fool¬ 
hardy aviators are less prevalent than in the earlier 


[ 120 ] 


days of flying, and the permanent amusement value of 
aviation seems to be approximately the same as that 
of balloon ascensions. These continue in popularity at 
county fairs and in special endurance contests. 


Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 What is the danger to spectators in watching 
automobile races and spectacular aeroplane flights? 

2 Do you know instances where the crowd have 
lost their heads and done foolish or brutal things? 


Bibliography 


Aeroplane Exhibitioiis 

Periodicals 

Clover, S. T. First Meet of the Man-Birds in America. Outing, 
March, 1910, v. 55, pp. 750-763. 

Account of the first of a large number of “meets.” 

Men in the Air. World’s Work, December, 1910, v. 21, pp. 
13720-13721. 

Interesting reflections on the second international con¬ 
test. 

Post, Augustus. Flying Fast and Furious. World’s Work, 
July, 1911, v. 22, pp. 14635-14641. 

Shows the development of “meets” by maps. 

Recent Aviation Events. Scientific American, September 20, 
1913, v. 109, p. 229. 

Woodhouse, Henry. Harvard-Boston Aviation Meet. Inde¬ 
pendent, September 29, 1910, v. 69, pp. 676-686. 

Account of an early aviation meet. 


[ 121 ] 














































































































































































PROPOSED SOLUTIONS OF THE 
PROBLEM OF POPULAR 
AMUSEMENTS 
























, 





























































































































































































I Summary and Forecast 

The prevalence of professionalism, commercialism, 
and immorality necessitate a public awakening and the 
improvement of conditions by pressure of public 
opinion. 

Popular public amusements have now been sketched 
| as to their extent, characteristics, and morals. They 
have been studied frankly as a social problem. They 
j make widely varying impressions upon those who 
study them, yet some consensus of opinion may emerge 
as to three outstanding facts. These are the wide pre¬ 
valence of: 1 Professionalism, 2 Commercialism, and 
3 Immorality. 


1 PROFESSIONALISM 

Instead of the wholesome love of play, the love of 
being played upon has become a national passion. The 
spontaneity of playful activities, and the originality 
which creates them are being lulled to sleep by the 
habit of being amused. Among great groups of people 
it is wholly out of date to “make your own fun.” Es¬ 
pecially where congestion of living conditions and the 
fatigue of over-work make private recreation difficult 
for families or friends, the crowds are flocking to the 
public entertainers. They look on, wistful or jaded, 
while others do their playing for them. Yet not with 
these alone has the professional come to dominate the 
situation. Almost equally with those whose resources 
for private recreation are ample the compelling motive 
is to be amused. 

The professional entertainer holds sway in every 
field from which he is not rigidly excluded, every field 

[ 125 ] 









in which the rights of the amateur are not vigorously 
asserted. He plays the game better than the rest of us. 
We pay him to devote his time to it. His work has 
high social value if he teaches the rest of us how to 
play the game better, and we keep on playing, but 
when his superiority shames us into inactivity, into 
merely watching him, we are in a dangerous way. This 
is what has happened to us and the line of division be¬ 
tween entertainer and entertained is an ever-deepening 
line save where reassertions of the amateur spirit re¬ 
strain it. 

A social disease has been spreading broadcast among 
us. The professional, whether he be actor, dancer, ath¬ 
lete, or what not, is the chief source of infection. The 
disease of spectatoritis is abroad in the land. Its germs 
are in every breath we draw and most of us are affected 
with that paralysis of play activities which is its most 
striking, immediate symptom. 

Here and there appears the aggravated case—com¬ 
pletely infected—the fan who is nothing but a fan, a 
flabby creature symbolic of a multitude, a parasite 
upon the play of others, the least athletic of all men, 
never playing himself at anything, a spectacle hunter 
not a sportsman. 

Spectatoritis, like the professional who spreads it, de- j 
pends upon crowds and crowd contagion. Our study 
of amusements has shown the crowd spirit at work in 
almost every phase of the problem. This means that 
great masses of people meeting in the highly suggesti¬ 
ble state of crowd consciousness are daily exposed to 
the professional entertainer, the expert crowd stimu¬ 
lator who has unique power for “the contagion of 
virtues and vices, in the epidemic of degrading or' up¬ 
lifting suggestions.’ ’ 


[1261 


Spectatoritis is the crowd reaction to professionalism. 
’• It must be squarely faced if the amusement problem 
s is to be solved, for its end is brutality and callousness 
0 at the loss of human life. We may yet avoid its full 
- manifestations, familiar to other nations, ancient and 
0 modern, in established public spectacles of brutality. 
8 We are still a long way from the Roman amphitheater 
and the Spanish bullfight, but spectatoritis leads that 
1 way. Its way has ever been the path of a jaded sensa¬ 
tionalism, and the sensational is the basis of appeal in 
an alarming proportion of our public spectacles. A 
= clear eyed public opinion must how reckon in advance 

• with its full consequences. 

e A most penetrating statement of this evil has re- 
8 cently been made by Professor George Elliot Howard, 

1 the well known sociologist of Nebraska University. I 

* quote at length ; a passage discovered after the para¬ 
graphs above were written. 

“It is right, of course, to lay the chief stress on the influence 
l of the spectator in creating the spectacle. Normally it is 
■ largely a case of demand and supply. The desires of the 
spectator determine the character of the spectacle. But that 
is not the whole story. The spectacle which the spectator 
molds, in its turn molds the spectator. The spectator is a 
being which feeds on its own offspring. Here is an endless 
circuit of give-and-take, which as applied to the spectator- 
personality might well be called the ‘dialectic of emotional 
growth’. 

“Moreover the reciprocal influence of the spectator and tlue 
spectacle in our days is not usually normal. The spectacle is 
commercialized. It is chiefly the asset of the business man— 
the entrepreneur. The exploiter of the human need of recrea¬ 
tion provides what, under all the conditions, he thinks will 
pay. A large part of the theater-crowd is fortuitous. It comes 
from out of town. It takes what it can get, not always what it 
prefers. 

“Again, it must be held firmly in mind that we have to do 
with a species of crowd. As such it is amenable to the laws 

[127] 







of crowd psychology. Now the result of bodily contagion in 
the spectator crowd is greatly to increase the effects of ‘multi¬ 
plied suggestion’. Every emotion, every psychic manifestation 
called out by the stimulating spectacle is intensified. The 
emotional conductibility of the mass is very great. Nor must 
it be forgotten that pleasurable sensations or emotions, even ; 
if morbid, take the most enduring hold of the conscious or the 
subconscious self. They well up readily in associative mem¬ 
ory. How vast, then, for good or ill, must be the emotional 
discharge in the theater-crowd. For almost every social situa¬ 
tion, almost every moral crisis or mental conflict, almost every : 
desire, passion or ideal is presented to consciousness, accom- j 
panied by all the allurements of light, color, rhythm or sound. 

“Clearly, here is a tremendous power which calls loudly for , 
social control. For ages the susceptibility of the spectator 
crowd has been exploited for vicious, commercial, or other 
selfish ends. Why not capitalize it for the advancement of so¬ 
cial welfare? 

“Commercialized recreation need not necessarily be bad if 
wisely regulated; yet, as a matter of fact, in the United States 
almost every form of dramatic spectacle has been put upon 
too low a plane, often a disgracefully low plane. How serious 
is the danger to society, is partially realized when we count 
the vast throngs which regularly back the playhouses. 

“In fact, we owe to mob-mind in large measure the present 
low standard of dramatic recreation in our country. It is 
high time to give up the notion that only the bad is ‘catching’. 
Even more contagious are the good, the beautiful and the true. 

“The spectator-crowd at an athletic contest, a foot ball game, 
game of base ball, a wrestling or a boxing match, a Marathon 
race, is essentially a theater crowd, except that often it sits 
in the open air. The members of the spectacle are the only 
persons who exercise; and their exercise is not play but work, 
often for hire. The vicarious play of the team, however fas¬ 
cinating, does not exercise the spectator’s muscles. 

“In basic principle, the psychology of the athletic spectator- 
crowd is the same as that already presented. It is crowd psy¬ 
chology. Suggestibility is higher, contagion swifter, emotion 
more tumultous, the range of suggested ideas or actions nar¬ 
rower, than in the dramatic crowd. The sub-conscious self of 
the spectator emerges; the elemental gaming or struggle in- 


1128 ] 






| stinct of the h uman animal slips its leash, and the spectator 
n thrills with emotional reaction to the athlete’s muscular ex- 
{ P er i en ces. Who of us has not shared in the hypnotic frenzy, 
j the mob-hysteria of the ‘bleachers’ if not of the ‘grand stand’? 
ii ^ because actions are more ‘catching’, more readily in- 
e timated than words, that public exhibitions—in the theater or 
!• 011 the held—may prove dangerous, especially to children and 
i! adolescents. Happily, the more brutal forms of contests are 
i- being prescribed. Bear-baiting, bull-baiting, cock fighting and 
y prize fighting are passing. Is there no need of going further? 
> Do not humanism and the Gospel of peace demand that ex- 
!■ hibitions of boxing, wrestling and other spectacles suggesting 
11 1 hurt, cruelty, brute force, or war, be abandoned? Yet in my 
ir own town a few weeks ago was presented a motion-picture of 
r a bull-fight, before a crowd including hundreds of school chil- 
5 dren.” 

if! 

s This convincing statement diagnoses and describes 
a our social disease of spectatoritis, and concludes with 
8 valuable suggestions for “the social control of this 
1 neglected aspect of crowd-mind”. The writer shares 
t our view point as to the urgent need of a public awak- 
s ening to the evils of the situation in putting first 
' among these suggestions for social control the follow- 

^ ing: 

1 

1 “There must be fostered a powerful sentiment in favor of the 

5 public support of all proper forms of the newer recreational 

,1 

education. By Nature’s law recreative pleasures are essential 
to sound body, sound mind, sound character, and sound social 
living. Why suffer them longer to be monopolized for commer¬ 
cial exploitation—often for vicious ends? Why not coordinate 
them into an efficient division of social education?” 51 


51 G. E. Howard, Social Psychology of the Spectator, American Jour¬ 
nal of Sociology, July, 1912, v. 18, pp. 42-46. 


9 


[129] 





2 COMMERCIALISM 


Inseparable from the evils of professionalism and J 
spectatoritis, stands that of commercial domination. 
The distinguishing difference between the professional 
and the amateur is the entrance of the money element. 
It is clear enough that the money element dominates 
the amusement situation in America. Back of the 
professional stands the commercial promoter and the 
promoter is wont to take his cue from the cash box. ; 
He is not seeking chiefly the social welfare. 

Walter Rauschenbusch has well stated the influence 
of commercial control in the following: 

“Pleasure resorts run for profit are always edging along to¬ 
ward the forbidden. Men spend most freely when under liquor 
or sex excitement; therefore the pleasure resorts supply them 
with both. Where profit is eliminated, the quieter and higher 
pleasures get their chance. The institutions of pleasure main¬ 
tained by the people for their own use, such as parks, play¬ 
grounds, museums, libraries, concerts, theaters, dance halls, 
are always cleaner than the corresponding ventures of capital¬ 
ism, provided some rational supervision is maintained. I 
spent an evening in a small Missouri town waiting for a train. 
The streets were in possession of an amusement company and 
lined with tents and booths. The company evidently tried notj 


to offend the public sense of decency and to supply a ‘moral j 


show.’ The saloons were doing a rushing business, but the 


crowds flowing along the sidewalks were composed of clean !j 
American farmers with their wives and children or their sweet- ! 
hearts, trying to have a good time with the facilities offered, j 
But those facilities were so meager and so monotonous! You 
could pay a nickel for pop corn and soft drinks; or pay a 
quarter to see the clowns and the girls in brilliant tights per¬ 
form in a variety show; or pay a quarter to throw balls, or 
toss rings, or shoot a rifle to win a prize. That was all; pay, 
pay, pay, and nothing but a gambling thrill or satisfied curi¬ 
osity to show for it. This is what capitalism can do for our 


[ 130 ] 



people in catering to their desire for recreation. Can the peo¬ 
ple do no better for themselves?” 52 

! Commercial management has been well character¬ 
ized as tending to sever the individual from the com¬ 
munity, to prefer miscellaneous crowds to neighborly 
groups, to neglect the interests of the child, and to 
make no provision aside from moving pictures for the 
| mother of the wage earning family. 

We recognized, however, at the beginning of our 
i study that amusements might be good or bad inde¬ 
pendent of commercial management, and likewise that 
commercial management is necessary and valuable in 
; certain portions of the amusement field. Yet we asked 
if it might not be that the present situation is widely 
! dominated by a type of commercial management which 
regards neither art nor spontaneity nor the basic de- 
: mands of morality. Our study brings us to an inevi- 
| table affirmative as the answer. 

Let us be wholly just, however, to amusement pro¬ 
moters. There are a considerable number of able men 
in the “amusement business’’, who serve society val¬ 
uably. They explore new fields of human interest serv¬ 
ing as advance agents in the discovery of that which 
will “go” with the people. They stake large sums of 
money on experiments calculated to open some new 
approach to the social mind, and enlarge the borders 
of human happiness,—with profits, of course, for them¬ 
selves, yet not without frequent benefit to society. The 
commercial promoter, indeed, often pays the cost of 
experimentation with the public, and in effect hands 
over to society a forged weapon, as in the now accepted 
use of motion pictures in education. 

There are charlatans here, however, as in other forms 


52 Walter Rauschenbusch, in Christianising the Social Order, p. 440. 

[1311 








of business, very many of them—a large proportion of | 
those engaged—men who stand for the exploitation of 
human life, not for its service. Let us see the amuse¬ 
ment exploiter, just as he is, for he lies in wait for the 
spirit of youth at every corner. He is not a playful 
person, nor does he by his enterprises produce a play¬ 
ful people. With him the love of fun in the human 
heart is a cold piatter of dollars and cents. IJe buys j 
youth’s freshness of feeling in return for sundry tick¬ 
lings of sensation, and blights its glad spontaneities! 
with his itching palm. lie turns the pure upleaping 
spirit of play into a craze for mere sensation and coins 
up with an awful wastage one of the most priceless 
assets of the race. There follows in his train a jaded 
company of heavy-eyed, broken people who have lost 
the spirit of youth and the love of vigorous, wholesome 
play. 

The underlying fact in the amusement situation is 
this, that certain financial interests have discovered 
the natural resource of the play instinct and are ex¬ 
ploiting it for gain as ruthlessly as they have exploited 
other great natural resources. The depleted emotions, 
the stimulated lust, and the criminal tendencies which 
they produce by their exploitations cannot be traced 
back to source with the same deadly accuracy as bleak 
hillsides and slaughtered stump lots may be laid at the 
door of ruthless deforestation, but the methods and re-1| 
suits are not essentially dissimilar. In no phase of our ' 
whole great modern struggle against excessive pro- 
fits for the few and in favor of human values for the | 
many is the battle any keener than in this so-thought 
“superficial” question of popular amusements. As the 
congestion of city life thickens, and the daily struggle 
for a living wage grows sharper, the human need for 
release through real recreation becomes sharper also. 

[132] 



if It has, indeed, become for many a desperate need, 
if “Leisure in an industrial city is life itself.” The more 
e- tragic, therefore, becomes the loss of those spiritual 
ie values which are crucified by commercialism in asso- 
il ciation with play. The full significance of commercial 
domination is apparent only to those who realize how 
ii essential and how highly spiritual an expression of 
8 human life is made in play. If spontaneous, whole¬ 
s' some and well-ordered play is a profoundly educative 
is and moralizing force, then the substitution of cold profit- 
g seeking amusements, artificial and often nasty, can but 
ns qxercise a correspondingly profound effect for demor- 
88 alization. 

d Public opinion has before it the task of restoring to 
st all groups of citizens a full opportunity for wholesome 
e recreations unspoiled by commercialism, and also the 
parallel task of quickening for them that popular en- 
is thusiasm which is now so largely perverted by com- 
djmercial interests. 

3 IMMORALITY 

19 

jj A type of commercial management which is tuned to 
j the cash-box cannot afford to be very sensitive about 
j, morals. Where money is first, other values get in 
e afterward where they can. In other forms of business, 
over-production to the point of “all the market will 
bear” results in price-cutting, reduction of output, or 
wider extension of markets. In the amusement busi¬ 
ness, over-production seems to result in a state of glut 
which drains off in immorality. The emotional and 
spiritual experiences of the race are apparently elas¬ 
tic, capable of indefinite stretching at the hands of 
commercial aggression. Yet there is a sag of jaded 
nerves in the city youth of today, a loss of resilient 


[ 133 ] 




moral tension for which society through some of its 
members is responsible. 

It is as yet little realized in what a plot the forces of 
evil have conspired against the young people of the 
cities. They still start life with moral fiber made of 
the same essential texture as the youth of the country 
The weakening of that fiber is the result of unbearable 
strains which a complexity of exploitations puts upon 
it. These young people are not infrequently exploited 
in their homes. They are widely exploited in their 
work and set to mechanical routines at the age when 
every natural instinct craves change and fun and shift¬ 
ing interests. In their reactions of fatigue they are 
caught in the grip of these amusement enterprises 
which are so often run with an unbelievable disre¬ 
gard of moral consequences. The filching of their 
meagre earnings is only a little theft compared with 
the enormity of that robbery by which their spontan¬ 
eous joy in life, their modesty and their chastity are 
plucked away. It is a terrible thing to bring the emo¬ 
tional arid spiritual resources of youth to bankruptcy 
at twenty-two or twenty-three. The spiritual values 
of a rich maturity cannot blossom in such lives. The 
lust for profit has picked open the bud. It is no cause 
for wonder that youth wilts under the process, that 
emotional instability is so prevalent, that the age of 
youth is the age of crime and that clandestine prosti¬ 
tution appears to grow with appalling rapidity. On the 
other hand, it is a cause for wonder to all who are close 
to these young people that boyish integrity and chiv¬ 
alry last as long as they do, so often victoriously, and 
that chastity makes so stubborn a fight for its life. 

If these young people are to have their rightful share 
of high joy in life, morality must have the utmost re¬ 
inforcement for the power of personal morality—the 

[134] 




* power of the individual to refuse the evil and choose 
the good—is nowhere more needed than in the hodge¬ 
podge of confusions which characterize amusement 
offerings today, often making evil seem attractive and 
a good life repellent rather than beautiful. 

The first step in the solution of this problem is a pub¬ 
lic awakening to the facts of the situation. Only as 
the full significance of professionalism, commercialism 
and immorality in amusements are brought home to 
the thinking public will reconstructions take place. 
The charm of home life will then be re-established, as 
it must, for it is the stronghold of morality. There 
can never be any adequate substitute for the home, 
however long the economic struggle, and however dif¬ 
ficult the reconstructions of the social order required 
r to liberate it in city life. An awakened public opinion 
must see to it in the meantime that a vast amount of 
organized recreation in the midst of wholesome sur¬ 
roundings is made effective, in order that society may 
bring to its youth those normal pleasures which make 

• for morality. 

i The right-minded public has a fight on against the 
e forces which now control the provision of amusements 
e and against a small but vicious public which has 
learned how to get from commercial management what 
it wants. A fearless campaign for wholesomeness is 
. the immediate need. An alert and well-informed pub¬ 
lic opinion will insist that the amateur shall have his 
rights, that the cash box is meant to serve the recrea¬ 
tions of the American people, not to rule them, and that 
the safe-guarding of public morality is the paramount 
issue in the national life. The experience of all cities 
teaches as first in importance the duty voiced in the 
San Francisco report: 

“A primary step toward clearing commercialized amusement 
[135] 




from its vicious influence is the absolute divorce of liquor from 
all recreation.” 

At the spot where the servants of enormous organ¬ 
ized profits and the forces of the social evil are daily 
hunting for American youth with intentness and in¬ 
genuity, there public opinion has its work to do. The 
beginning of solutions lies in its hands. Its time to act 
is now. 


Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 It is by no means necessary for the group to 
reach agreement on detail points. If a clear convic¬ 
tion of the outstanding evils has emerged from previ¬ 
ous discussions, the members may turn to a careful 
consideration of ways to correct them. 

2 The relation between professional and amateur 
should be thoroughly discussed. Is spectatoritis pre¬ 
valent in “our town?” 

3 What is the necessity for commercial manage¬ 
ment of amusement enterprises? Is it a permanent 
necessity? Could its character be improved in most 
towns if the people demanded it? Could public pro¬ 
vision and control be carried farther than now in ‘ ‘ our 
town?” 

4 There should be a full realization of the moral 
issues involved in the problem and their significance in 
the national life. A member of the group may well 
present a brief paper on this point. 

5 Do the recent recreation surveys and widespread 
discussion of amusements indicate that the people are 
waking up? Are we going to get ready to do some¬ 
thing in “our town?” 

6 What are the usual obstacles to a recreation pro¬ 
gram for a community? Inertia or open opposition? 


[ 136 ] 



7 What are the leading forces making for public 
opinion in any town ? In “ our town ? ’ ’ Who will help 
quicken general interest in the improvement of condi¬ 
tions? Is that not the duty of this group? 


Bibliography 

Summary and forecast: Professionalism, commercialism 
and immorality. A public awakening by the pressure of pub¬ 
lic opinion. 

Reference should be made to the books and articles listed 
under 1, The Problem, The Situation in General, which also 
deal with proposed solutions. 


Books 

Bryce, James. American Commonwealth, v. 2, 1907. Mac¬ 
millan, $4. See chapters on Nature of Public Opinion, 
pp. 247-254; How Public Opinion Rules in America, pp. 
263—270; Action of Public Opinion, pp. 317—334; Tyranny of 
the Majority, pp. 335-343; Fatalism of the Multitude, pp. 
342-353; Wherein Public Opinion Fails, pp. 354-362; Where¬ 
in Public Opinion Succeeds, pp. 363-374. 

Edwards, R. H. Christianity and Popular Amusements. As¬ 
sociation Press, 1914. 50c. 

An analysis of the outstanding moral temptations in 
popular amusements, and the application of specific Chris¬ 
tian principles. 

Gotkin, E. L. Growth and Expression of Public Opinion, Un- 

forseen Tendencies of Democracy, McClure, pp. 183-225,1898. 

$ 2 . 

Hadley, A. T. Formation of Public Opinion Standards of Pub¬ 
lic Morality, Macmillan, pp. 1—29, 1907. $1. 

Points out wide disparity between a man’s standard of 
personal morality and his standard of public morality. 

Ross, E. A. Sin and Society; an analysis of latter day iniquity. 
Houghton, 1907. $1. 

“Shows that the greatest offenders of the present day 
are the grafters and bribers who prey in a large way on 
the people, and attempts to crystallize public sentiment 
against these.” A. L. A. Booklist. 

Ross, E. A. Public Opinion, Social Psychology. Macmillan, 
pp. 346-354, 1910. $1.50. 

An analysis of public opinion. 




Periodicals 


Bonaparte, C. J. Government by Public Opinion. Forum, 1908, 
v. 40, pp. 384-390. 

Clear, judicial statement of the nature and power of 
public opinion. 

Curiosities of Honest Opinion. Independent, May 10, 1906, v. 60, 
pp.1109-1110. 

Gulick, L. H. Popular Recreation and Public Morality. An¬ 
nals of the American Academy, July, 1909, v. 34, pp. 33-42. 

Valuable discussion. 

Howard, G. E. Social Psychology of the Spectator. American 

Journal of Sociology, July, 1912, v. 18, pp. 42-46. 

A very important factor in the amusement situation. An 
article of profound insight. 

Maps of Public Opinion. World’s Work, October, 1907, v. 14, 
p. 9395. 

Contends that public opinion of the individual is formed 
largely by his industrial position in life, and by inheri¬ 
tance. 

Revelation of Life in Fiction. Harper’s Monthly, May, 1906, 
v. 112, pp. 962-964. 

Public and private opinion once formed is difficult to 
change. 

Shepard, W. J. Nature and Force of Public Opinion. Ameri¬ 
can Journal of Sociology, July, 1909, v. 15, pp. 32-60. 

Exhaustive discourse on nature of, place and power of 
public opinion. 

Sinclair, Upton. The Muckrake Man. Independent, Septem¬ 
ber, 1908, v. 65, pp. 517-519. 


II Restrictive Public Opinion 

Public opinion expresses itself in two main forms of 
action in relation to this problem:—in what may 
be termed restrictive action, and constructive action. 
Restrictive action registers the immediate popular pro¬ 
test against evil conditions. It aims to correct out¬ 
standing abuses, to maintain order and such propriety 
of conduct as can be secured by coercive measures. 
It does not seek to change the essential character of 
the amusement with which it deals, but contents itself 
with such outward control as is necessary to prevent 
expressions of lawlessness and indecency. The main 


[ 138 ] 


weapons of restrictive public opinion are agitation, 
and governmental regulation secured by executive ac¬ 
tion, legal prosecution, and increased legislation. 

Whenever an especially evil situation is laid bare, an 
outburst of popular condemnation is the first express¬ 
ion of public opinion. Such explosions are valuable 
if they are aimed at the real evil in the case, for they 
clear the atmosphere and reassert the supremacy of 
moral issues. They demonstrate that the moral sense 
of the community is opposed to evil when evil is ex¬ 
posed and clearly seen. 

1 THE SITUATION IN GENERAL 

Restrictive public opinion maintains that the worst 
offenders against public decency can be handled only 
by the enforcement of adequate laws. It declares that 
there are staged in America every day shows so vile 
and corrupting to youth that only arrest and prosecu¬ 
tion can reach the responsible person. It declares that 
in the worst public dance halls and elsewhere there 
are nameless scenes enacted in the night which society 
must obliterate by its authorized officers. It cites the 
effective agitation in California against the Johnson- 
Jeffries prize-fight, and the present laws in other states 
as illustrations of what it may accomplish on that 
phase of the problem. It declares that the worst of 
our amusement parks have become the actual summer 
headquarters and recruiting stations of the organized 
social evil, which can be cleaned out only by the most 
rigid repression. It maintains that under the stress of 
special excitement, evil suggestion or intoxication in 
connection with certain special amusement events, 
crowds of people often commit acts of vice or brutality 
which the police alone can stop. It maintains that only 

[I39f 



the fear of the repressive and regulative agencies of 
government as established and backed by this type of 
public opinion keeps the amusement situation any¬ 
where near as clean as it is in any of its phases. 

Doubtless the limitations of restrictive public 
opinion are many, but it is clearly indispensible, never¬ 
theless. When focussed upon the actual evil in the 
case, it 1 furnishes the emotional strength necessary to 
quicken public inertia, to curb the forces of evil, and 
to force mere intellectual criticism into activity. Re¬ 
strictive action alone can safeguard the public from 
exposure to the worst forms of evil, and no real solu¬ 
tion of the amusement problem will be achieved with¬ 
out due emphasis being placed upon this type of action. 
The following summary of requirements in legisla¬ 
tion for the control of commercial recreation is given 
by. Julia Schoenfeld, covering the situation in general: 

1 A license for all commercial amusement enterprises for 
the premises and not for the man who operates the amusement 
enterprise. This license is practically for control and not for 
revenue. 

2 Centralization of authority in a licensing bureau, prefer¬ 
ably under the mayor. 

3 Regulations for safety and health. 

4 Prohibition of the sale of liquor. 

5 Proper closing hours. 

6 An age limit for young people. 

7 Revocation of licenses and adequate penalties for failure to 
comply with laws. 

8 Adequate inspection so that a normal moral tone is main¬ 
tained and regulations enforced. 

9 Licenses for amusement enterprises conducted in dance 
halls. 53 

As a matter of effective control it would seem to be 
important that administrative power should have a 


53 Julia Schoenfeld, The Playground, March, 1914, p. 463. 


[ 140 ] 




maximum of freedom, with the least possible amount 
of court review in such matters as the moral regula¬ 
tion of performances. This means in effect a censorship 
by the administration. Inspection from the recreation 
standpoint by trained social workers in addition to and 
cooperating with police inspection apparently gives 
the highest efficiency. 


2 THE DRAMATIC GROUP 

Restrictive action in relation to this type of amuse¬ 
ments has placed among the ordinances of many cities 
aw enactment prohibiting indecent exhibitions such as 
the following in North Yakima, Wash.: 

“It shall be unlawful to exhibit * * * any drama, play, 

theatrical stage or platform performances or any picture of an 
obscene, indecent or immoral nature, or wherein any scene of 
crime or violence is shown, portrayed or presented in a grue¬ 
some manner or detail, or in a revolting manner, or which 
tends to corrupt morals, or which is offensive to the moral 
sense, or to permit or allow in any such place, any person to 
sing obscene songs or converse or discourse in obscene or inde-. 
cent language, or to allow or permit any phonographic or sim¬ 
ilar device to be used for the reproduction of any obscene song, 
conversation, speech or discourse.” 54 

Such ordinances when enforced are effective in put¬ 
ting the managers of show houses on their guard, and 
forcing them to keep their presentations within the 
limits of decency. 

Restrictive public opinion frequently seeks to exer¬ 
cise control over stage productions by attempting to 
secure the appointment of a single censor or board of 
censorship for a city, appointed by the mayor. The 
purpose of such a movement has been accomplished in 

54 City of North Yakima, Ordinance, No. A. 122. 


[ 141 ] 





many cities by a system of licenses for commercial 
amusement enterprises, as indicated above. This is the ; 
most generally accepted method of handling the prob- 
lem and makes possible a refusal or revocation of lb 
censes for sufficient cause on the theory that the city 
has a right to supervise and regulate anything it li¬ 
censes to do business in the city. A system of inspec- j 
tion makes possible the enforcement of the conditions ! 
upon which the license was granted, and likewise aids j 
in the operation of the criminal law against offenders. 
As the cities awake to their corporate responsibility for 
public recreation, a rapid increase in the establishment 
of license systems with inspection is taking place. The 
extension of these systems to cover all forms of dra¬ 
matic and other commercial amusement enterprises is 
urgently needed in most cities. 

In the matter of motion pictures, restrictive public 
opinion has found an effective expression in the Na- ( 
tional Board of Censorship already referred to. Such 
a board is able to accomplish much in this particular 
field because of the concentration of the film-producing 
business in the hands of comparatively few concerns 
and their willingness to cooperate. The board has se¬ 
cured the cooperation of practically all manufacturers, 
and the steady improvement in the quality of the pic¬ 
tures has been notable. The report of the board of 
January 1, 1913, indicates that: 

“At the close of three and a half years of work, the National 
Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures is able to report the 
following results: During the past year at least ninety-eight 
out of every one hundred films publicly exhibited in America 
have been previously inspected by the Board. * * * The 

motion picture programs of about 16,000 theaters in the United 
States are completely censored by the National Board. The 
motion picture entertainment of about 7,000,000 Americans 
daily is thus supervised.” 


[ 142 ] 



4 ‘In struggling with the moving picture problem, the censor¬ 
ship is dealing with nine-tenths of the total theater problem. 
Moving pictures are now the most important form of cheap 
amusement in the country. They reach the young, immigrant, 
family groups, the formative and impressionable section of our 
cities, as no other form of amusement, and cannot but be vital 
influences of ill or good. They are the only theaters which it 
is possible for the wage-worker to attend. In their social and 
educational possibilities they provide the basis for a neigh¬ 
borhood theater of the people.’' 66 

There is an apparent need of a local censorship of 
motion pictures in addition to that of the National 
Board, if all objectionable films are to be kept from 
public view. An increasing number of cities are pass¬ 
ing ordinances which provide that only those films may 
be shown which have been passed by the National 
Board of Censorship, thus establishing a local censor¬ 
ship which is easy to operate. 

Joint action among owners of theaters in coopera¬ 
tion with the city government and an interested group 
of citizens may be effective in producing a satisfactory 
local censorship such as has been secured in Cleveland, 
0. Suggestions on these and other phases of restrict¬ 
ive action are contained in the following suggested re¬ 
quirements : 

“1 A license for the premises for motion picture shows. 

2 Definition of motion pictures and motion picture theater. 

3 Regulation of the building and fire departments to insure 
proper sanitation and adequate fire protection. 

4 Standards of lighting and ventilation, so framed as to be 
thoroughly enforcible. 

5 Placing the question of censorship with the licensing au¬ 
thority, which will regulate the moral quality of the show, 
since through this authority it is possible to revoke or suspend 
a license, if the show is not up to a normal standard. 


56 Report of the National Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures, 
January 1, 1913. 


[ 143 ] 





6 Requirement that children shall not be permitted to at¬ 
tend motion picture shows during school hours or after eight 
o’clock in the evening.” 67 

The need of state laws on the subject is illustrated 
by the following: 

“The motion pictures of Chicago are very well censored, and 
something like one hundred and twenty-six miles of films have 
been condemned and permission to exhibit them refused. In 
consequence they have been sent outside the city, all over the 
state, and many of the pictures exhibited in the small towns 
are bad—the rest of the state suffering for the virtues of Chi¬ 
cago! A state law should be enacted providing that all mov¬ 
ing pictures should be shown in well lighted halls, and the 
posters and advertisements outside all theaters and throughout 
the city should be censored and passed upon by the same com¬ 
mittee which censors the moving pictures.” 58 

It is to be remembered that films which cannot be 
reached by National, state or local censorship are sub¬ 
ject to criminal prosecution if they are of such a nature 
as to come under the law. 


3 THE SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP 

A Restrictive action in relation to cafes with amuse¬ 
ment features has expressed itself chiefly in city ordi¬ 
nances covering the sale of liquor and disorderly con¬ 
duct. Cafes, cabarets, and music halls in which the 
amusement features are highly developed and likewise 
those in which provision for general dancing is made 
in connection are comparatively new as subjects for 
special legislation, but are now coming to be placed 
under the control of license bureaus. 

67 Julia Schoenfeld, The Playground, March, 1914, p. 471. 

68 Louise DeK. Bowen, Some Legislative Needs in Illinois , p. 21. 


[ 144 ] 







It is difficult to classify, however, and extremely dif¬ 
ficult to regulate such institutions as the large restaur¬ 
ants of San Francisco having a hotel adjunct and fur¬ 
nishing, in addition to food and, liquor, amusement 
features including dancing. The report of the Com¬ 
monwealth Club suggests an important principle in the 
following: “A policy which would make for the sep¬ 
aration of overlapping businesses, where abuses arise 
by virtue of the overlap, would be in line with the best 
interests of the community as well as of the purveyors 
of decent amusement by taking away their most subtle 
and dangerous competition. ” 

B The following requirements should be sought for 
in working out legislation for dance halls: 

“1 A license should be required for the premises used for 
dance halls and not for the man who operates the hall. This 
places upon the owner of the hall responsibility for the con¬ 
duct of the place. Permits for public balls and dances should 
be exacted and satisfactory references furnished, in order that 
the type of frequenters of public halls may be regulated. 

2 Regulations of the building and fire departments should be 
demanded in order to insure proper sanitation and adequate 
fire protection. Halls should be properly lighted and all rooms 
should be kept open. This gives an opportunity to close the 
small, dark, poorly-ventilated dance hall. 

3 The sale of liquor should be prohibited. 

4 The giving of return checks to dancers should be forbid- 
,den, so that the saloons and immoral places that exist in a 
neighborhood may not be utilized during the dancing period. 
Dance halls should not be allowed in connection with rooming 
houses or hotels. 

i 5 Immoral dancing should be forbidden. 

6 A reasonable hour for closing the dance should be exacted. 
Half past twelve is suggested, with a possible special permit 
to be issued for later hours on occasion. 

7 Attendance of minors under eighteen should be forbidden 
unless accompanied by parent or guardian. 


10 


[145] 






8 Inspection should be demanded and revocation of license Or 
other penalty imposed for violations. 

9 License fee should be flat or graded according to the size 
of the dancing space.” 59 

A rapidly increasing number of cities recently esti¬ 
mated at 158 , are adopting ordinances which incorpo¬ 
rate requirements in whole or in part as suggested 
above, and their value in restricting or eliminating the 
worst evils indicated in the previous chapter upon 
dance halls is of- the utmost significance. 

The following statement from G. J. Kneeland to the 
author emphasizes an important point: 

“The chief thing to watch in cleaning up the dance hall situa¬ 
tion is the character of the clubs or organizations which apply 
for permits to give dances. Before such permits are granted 
these organizations should be investigated. This is in many 
cases the crux of the whole matter because the members of 
such clubs are usually attached to some political party and the 
managers of halls dare not interfere with their method of con¬ 
ducting their dances.” 

C In working out legislation for bowling alleys 
and pool rooms, the following requirements should be 
sought: 

“1 A license should be exacted for the premise and not for the 
man who operates the alley or pool room. This license is 
practically for control and not for revenue. 

2 Boys under eighteen should not be permitted to enter. 

3 No liquor should be sold or gambling allowed on the preriL 
ises. 

4 Proper regulations for ventilation and sanitation should be 
demanded. 

5 The license should be revoked for violations.” 60 

Restrictive action in regard to other rendezvous for 
men is ordinarily taken through police control of 


69 Julia Schoenfeld, The Playground, March, 1914, pp. 463-464. 
80 Julia Schoenfeld, The Playground, March, 1914, p. 479. 

[ 146 ] 





gambling, disorderly conduct, and the illegal sale of 

liquor. 

the following is the Wisconsin law covering the 
suppression of gambling in cities, villages and towns: 

Section 959—70: The common councils of all cities of this 
state, whether organized under the general law or special char¬ 
ters, and the board of trustees of all villages and the town 
boards of all towns, shall have the power to restrain, prohibit 
or suppress all descriptions of gambling, fraudulent devices 
and practices, and to cause the seizure and destruction of all 
implements, machines, tables, articles and things manufactured 
and devised solely for the purpose of playing thereon games 
of chance for money or other property, and all implements, ma¬ 
chines, devices, furniture, articles or things actually found be¬ 
ing used for playing thereon or therewith games of chance for 
money or property, after a judicial determination as to the 
character or the use of such implements, machines, devices, 
tables, furniture, articles or things. 


4 THE ATHLETIC GROUP 

A Restrictive public opinion in relation to amateur 
athletics finds its chief expression in the careful rules 
and regulations drawn up by the various leagues and 
organizations, such as The Amateur Athletic Union, 
The College Athletic Union, The Public Schools Ath¬ 
letic Leagues. These provisions are too many and va¬ 
ried for specific mention here. They are aimed for the 
most part, however, at the maintenance of the rules 
of the game as agreed upon, the preservation of the 
standards of amateur sport, and the elimination of 
brutality and unfairness. 

Restrictive public opinion also expresses itself in 
the control of disorderly conduct among spectators or 
players through police action or otherwise. 

B Restrictive public opinion in professional ath- 


[147J 


letics expresses itself, as in amateur athletics, in rules I 
and regulations agreed upon between competing teams, , 
by leagues or other organizations in control, such as j 
the National, American, Federal, and International 
baseball leagues. 

Police action likewise operates in relation to disord- | 
erly conduct. 

Many states have forbidden professional boxing and 
prize-fighting altogether, as in the following laws of \ 
the state of Wisconsin: 

Section 4520: Any person who shall, by previous arrange¬ 
ment or appointment, engage in a fight with another person 
for the possession of any prize, belt, or other evidence of cham¬ 
pionship, or for any other cause, shall be punished by imprison- . 
ment in the state prison not more than five years nor less than 
one year, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars nor 1 
less than one hundred dollars. 

Section 4521: Any person who shall be present at such i 
fight, as is mentioned in the preceding section, as aid, second , 
or surgeon, or shall encourage, advise or promote such fight, j 
shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not ! 
more than three years nor less than one year, or in the county jl 
jail not more than one year or by fine not exceeding one thou- ! ! 
sand dollars. 




5 SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PLACES 1 

f| 

A Restrictive public opinion in relation to amuse- H 
ment parks finds expression through police control and j 
sometimes through the license bureau, where such i 
parks are within the city limits. Parks of this char- j 
acter, however, are frequently outside of city limits, 
and quite unregulated because of the inefficiency or 
corruption of county officials. Some provide their own ! 
guards and police. 


1148 ] 








B Race track parks are restricted in some states 
by laws similar to the following in Wisconsin: 

Section 1779: Any corporation found under this chapter to 
establish, maintain and manage any driving park may have 
grounds and courses for improving and testing the speed of 
horses and may offer and award prizes for competition; but 
no racing for any bet or wager shall be allowed; and any such 
corporation may prevent gambling or betting of any kind and 
preserve order on its grounds and establish rules therefor, and 
appoint officers and agents who for that purpose, shall have 
the power of constables. 

6 SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 

Special amusement events, such as holidays, excur¬ 
sions, and the circus require extraordinary alertness 
on the part of the police and other restrictive agencies 
of government. Special provision is sometimes made 
in laws against dangers or evils likely to emerge, as 
in the recently increased limitations put upon the man¬ 
ufacture and sale of firecrackers, fireworks, etc., tend¬ 
ing to regulate and supervise their use on the Fourth 
of July. 

An interesting expression of restrictive public opin¬ 
ion in relation to holidays is that of the Society for the 
Prevention of Useless Giving which aims to stop the 
commercialization of Christmas: 

* \ The amusement features of fairs may well he 
' handled by the same methods as city enterprises, 
through a license inspection system. 

Automobile and similar races arc usually held under 
provisions and restrictions imposed by the organiza¬ 
tions conducting them. These are frequently inade¬ 
quate for the protection of racers and spectators. 

The Aero Club of America has forbidden its mem¬ 
bers to fly over cities. 


[ 149 ] 





Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 Lay the foundations ‘for the building of a local 
program of restrictive action by presenting and dis¬ 
cussing the exact situation as to laws and ordinances 
in “our town.” For suggestions on local action see pages 
205-213 inclusive. 

2 Six different members of the group should in¬ 
vestigate the six main subjects under which restrictive 
action is presented in this chapter. Report exact word¬ 
ing of laws and ordinances and bring reliable statements 
as to their enforcement. 

3 The mayor or chief of police might be invited to 
make a statement to the group of his policy of law en¬ 
forcement. Certain members of the group should be 
delegated to prepare needed ordinances along the lines 
suggested in this chapter for later use in pushing the 
recreation program. 


Bibliography 


Restrictive Public Opinion 
1 The Situation In General 

Reference should be made to the reports and surveys lister* 
under I, The problem, The Situation in General, for material 
upon all forms of restrictive action. State laws and local or* 
dinances should be looked up. 

Books 

Bowen, L. DeK. Some Legislative Needs in Illinois. Juvenik 

Protective Association of Chicago, 1914. 5c. 

A stirring indictment. 

Harnner, L. F. Recreation Legislation. Russell Sage Founda 
tion, N. Y., 1911. 20c. 

Typical state laws and city ordinances dealing with mat¬ 
ters of public recreation. 

[ 150 ] 


Periodicals 


After Exposure, What? Nation, March 22, 1906, v. 82, p. 234. 

Practical value of publicity does not end in simply stir¬ 
ring things up, but in remedying evils by legislation. 

Methodist Amusement Ban. Literary Digest, June 15, 1912, 
v. 44, p. 1260. 

Discusses the amusement vote of the general conference. 

Schoenfeld, Julia. Commercial Recreation Legislation, Play¬ 
ground, March, 1914, v. 7, no. 12, p. 461-481. 

An article of unique value, largely quoted in this study. 
Should be consulted on all phases of the problem. 


2 The Dramatic Group 

Boolcs 

Bartholomew, R. O. Report of Censorship of Motion Pictures 

and of investigation of motion picture theaters of Cleve¬ 
land, 1913. Office of the mayor, Cleveland, O. 

A remarkable public document which goes bravely and 
intelligently into the problem. 

Davis, M. M., Jr. A Positive Censorship, The Exploitation of 
Pleasure, 1911, pp. 58-59. 

See other reports similar to this listed under The Prob¬ 
lem I. 

Report of the National Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures. 

50 Madison Ave., New York City, January, 1913. 

Reports can be secured upon application. 

Suggestions for a Model Ordinance for Regulating Motion Pic¬ 
ture Theaters, The National Board of Censorship of Motion 
Pictures, 50 Madison Ave., New York City. 10c. 

The Standards of the National Board of Censorship of Motion 
Pictures, 50 Madison Ave., New York City. 

Sets forth the basic principles of the censorship. 

Periodicals 

Collier, John. “Movies” and the Law. Survey, January 20, 
1912, v. 27, pp. 1628-1629. 

Report of a committee upon an ordinance for New York 
City, N. Y. 

English and Their Censor. Current Literature, June, 1912, v. 52, 
pp. 695-696. 

The English situation with reference to America. 

Penny Arcades. Outlook, October 26, 1912, v. 102, pp. 376-377. 
How New York has been freed. 

Pollock, J. The Censorship. Fortnightly, May, 1912, v. 97, 
pp. 880-894. 

A full discussion of the English censorship. 

[ 151 ] 







3 The Social Rendezvous Group 


Boots 


Cleve- 


Bartholomew, R. O. Report of Dance Hall Inspector. 

land O., August, 1912. 

An invaluable report. Apply to mayor’s office. 

Davis, M. M., Jr. Regulation of Dance Halls. The Exploitation 
PJ? asure > 1911, pp. 46-47. See other reports similar to 
this listed under the The Problem, I. 


Periodicals 


Addams, Jane. Public Dance Halls of Chicago. Ladies ’ Home 
Journal, July, 1913, v. 30, p. 19. 

Resume of improvements in conditions. 

Regulating Dance Halls. Survey, June 3, 1911, v. 26, pp. 345- 
346. 

A summary of efforts. 


4 The Athletic Group 

See entries under The Problem, IV, The Athletic Group of 
Amusements, p. 211. r 


3 Special Amusement Places 

See entries under The Problem, V, special Amusement Places, 

p. 212. ’ 

Periodicals 

Whitney, Casper. Reforms that Do Not Reform. Outinsr 

April, 1908, v. 52, pp. 124-125. 

legisfatk>n ntS against refor mingr race track gambling by 


6 Special Amusement Events 


■ 


Ev S e e nts. en p ri 212. Under Th<! ProbIem < VI > S P ecial Amusement 

Boots 

Hanmer, L. F. Independence Day Legislation and Celebration 
Suggestions. Department of Recreation, Russell Safre 
Foundation, 130 E. 22nd Street, New York City. 


[ 152 ] 








Ill Constructive Public Opinion 

However effective in maintaining external order re¬ 
strictive action may be, it clearly does not go to the 
root of the question. It alone cannot solve the problem 
of amusements in America. Public opinion must find 
a deeper answer to these issues than can ever be ex¬ 
pressed in agitation or governmental regulation. Con¬ 
structive public opinion offers more fundamental solu¬ 
tions; it strives to get at the deep-seated causes of the 
evils which have emerged and cut them off at their 
source. It seeks to discover the normal human desire 
which has been perverted in its expression, and to 
work for the natural and wholesome expression of 
that desire. It maps out a progressive program, and 
seeks to hold public opinion of the first type to a pro¬ 
longed campaign and the support of thorough-going 
solutions. It would see the leisure time of all the 
people conserved for worthy ends and many friends of 
wholesome play are now hard at work in the mood of 
such constructive effort. They are achieving tangible 
results. They stake their case on the absolute validity 
and the fundamental importance in human life of the 
beneficent instinct of play. 

1 PLAY, THE GOSPEL OF PLAY 

Constructive public opinion starts its campaign with 
a deep and valiant belief in play. In season and out 
of season it preaches the gospel of play: an ample op¬ 
portunity for wholesome pleasure for every man, wo¬ 
man and child in every home, store and factory in 
America, and the means of enjoying it to the full at 
least once every week. The gospel of play is the 


[ 153 ] 




beginning of wisdom in this whole matter. Many 
minds in many centuries have misunderstood or denied 
the importance of play and looked upon it as a more or 
less permissable sin, rather than as a natural, right, 
and beautiful expression of the human spirit. Tins 
tragic misconception has made the earth a sombre j 
place for countless millions. It is well to believe in 
play, for the love of it leaps up instinctively in every j 
normal being. Whatever one does for the pure love 
of it, that is play. It is more instinctive than work and 
not a whit less important. A playless continent would j 
be no more abnormal than a playless life. Play is 
for childhood the shining gate that opens wide to life, j 
to sociability, endurance, cooperation, natural growth 
and the subordination of one’s own desires to common j 
ends. It leads out the youthful spirit through mys¬ 
terious instinctive regions where no formal education 
can be its guide, and may indeed light up the meaning 
of government, and the moral order. For maturity, 
the shining gate swings backward, restoring joyous 
memories and the early freshness of boyhood’s morn¬ 
ings, recreating body and soul, warding off nervous 
exhaustion, maintaining balance and proportion in life, 
making work tolerable for the oppressed, and releas¬ 
ing the worker to increased efficiency. It is well to 
believe in play, for morality and play grow up together 
like joyous children when play is spontaneous, un¬ 
bought and clean. 

America believes in play. That is manifest. The 
question at issue is the sort of play in which she be¬ 
lieves, the sort of recreations which are to possess her 
leisure hours. These will shape the national character. 
Can she be led to believe completely in wholesome 
play? Constructive public opinion sets itself to pro¬ 
duce the affirmative answer. Perhaps the most funda- 
[154] 



mental and enduring of all solutions of this problem 
lies in a universal adoption of the gospel of wholesome 
play, in the full development of private recreation as 
over against public—private in the sense that the 
crowd is avoided—that commercialized attractions are 
shunned and reliance placed upon plays and games in 
which personal skill, initiative, wit, and originality 
count. 

It is to be remembered also that in the development 
of the finer sides of life, in the cultivation of music, 
art, literature and religion, joy comes to full fruition. 

All these higher expressions of life, so often in the 
past the exclusive privilege of the rich, the educated, 
or the specially favored, are now possible for the whole 
mass of the people. There are indeed few facts of 
modern life so significant as the vast process by which 
the means of enjoyment have been democratized 
through scientific discoveries, mechanical inventions 
and modern organization. Never till the present has 
Pericles’ ideal picture of Athenian recreation, as re¬ 
corded by Thucydides, been capable of universal realiz¬ 
ation. 

“And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits 
many relaxations from toil; we have regular games and sacri¬ 
fices throughout the year; at home the style of our life is 
refined; and the delight which we daily feel in all these things 
helps to banish melancholy. Because of the greatness of our 
city the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us; so that we 
enjoy the goods of other countries as freely as of our own.”* 1 

The spirit of youth never had a greater multitude of 
wholesome recreations, easy of access, than in America 
today. The constructive use of leisure time by all 
the people was never more possible than now. 

81 Funeral speech of Pericles. B. Jowett. Thucydides, translated into 
English, y. 1, p. 118. 


[ 155 ] 





It is in the achievement of these ideals of the gospel 
of play that the significance of amateur athletics in all 
their wide range as a solution of the problem is evi¬ 
dent. By their very nature a sharp line is drawn 
against professionalism. The test of the amateur is 
freedom from personal commercialization. Commer¬ 
cialism is eliminated, therefore, when the rules are ob¬ 
served, and only in the case of spectacular teams or 
great institutions where enormous crowds attend the 
games does commercialization in management become 
a problem or harmful publicity develop. For the rest, 
the pure love of sport dominates the situation, and it is 
the inherent nature of successful sport to be morally 
clean. In it the taint of immorality is a fatal weakness. 
Amateur athletics thus become not only a magnificent 
expression of the play spirit, but a positive and effec¬ 
tive opponent of the evil tendencies in prevalent 
amusements. It would be difficult to over-emphasize, 
therefore, the value of amateur baseball, football, boat¬ 
ing, track games, tennis, swimming, tramping, and the 
like—these in the warmer months; and skating, bob¬ 
bing, skiing, with handball, basketball, and other 
gymnasium games, in the winter months. The organi¬ 
zation of these activities in schools and colleges and 
by athletic clubs and other organizations in the cities 
has high social value. 

Add to organized athletics the wide variety of other 
private recreations, such as camping, riding and driv¬ 
ing, the ancient and honorable picnic, fishing and hunt¬ 
ing, the gentle art of gardening, photography, outings, 
travel, wood-craft and nature study; and to these the 
pleasures of music, home games, private social parties, 
minstrel shows and amateur dramatics; and through 
them all trace the perennial joy of natural love and 
friendship. All these by their healthy vigor, their 
[156] 


spontaneity and wit, their freedom from sordid com¬ 
mercialism, and their clean morality, may become the 
most far-reaching solution of our present problem. 
How vital are the restorations that work out in us 
when we play with joyous absorption! The gospel of 
play is the beginning of wisdom in this whole matter, 
and any parent, any person set in authority over young 
people, or any employer of labor, who turns a deaf ear 
to its appeal and clings to the worn out doctrine of re¬ 
pressing the play impulse, commits a grievous sin 
against society. On the other hand, those who use 
their power to enlarge the play life of young people 
and help to release their pent desires for healthy pleas¬ 
ure are among the saviours of the race. It is necessary 
to believe in play, despite the evils which fasten them¬ 
selves about it—aye, the more for that very reason— 
for the spirit of youth and the spirit of life are killed 
where play is denied. The gospel of play has saved 
many souls that were cast down, wounded in our over¬ 
heated, over-speeded and under-ventilated order of in¬ 
dustry, and sent them back to their jobs with the highly 
moral purpose to “hit the line hard,” to “play fair” 
and “not to be quitters.” Organized and competitive 
play is giving us much of the moral equivalent of war 
and vastly more that war could never give, and giving 
it, moreover, without war’s horrors and brutalities. 
Constructive public opinion begins its crusade with the 
gospel of play. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 This is a subject for careful study—a study of 
books and people; a subject for careful thinking. Much 
has been written upon it, and yet the far-reaching ben¬ 
efits of well-ordered play are not generally understood. 


[ 157 ] 


Books and articles among those listed in the biblio¬ 
graphy should be read with care by members of the 
group. Brief reports should be given upon } various 
topics such as: the relation of play to work; the rela¬ 
tion of play to education; the relation of play to cit¬ 
izenship ; the relation of play to moral development; 
the part of play in social life. Could we live together 
happily if we did not play together? Can you imagine 
a playless town? Are there any such towns in Amer¬ 
ica? Is there any natural connection between play 
and loose morals? Is it true that “in the lower realm 
where religion and morality do not act, amusements 
and sports are the only effective motives to elevate 
men?” Can you suggest any new forms of play which 
would stir up people not used to playing, as golf stirred 
up a host of middle-aged men who had left off all 
games ? 

2 An interesting part of an hour may be spent in 
reporting and discussing favorite forms of recreation. 
What is your hobby among the sports and what does it 
do for you? 

3 The group will be tempted at this point to dis¬ 
cuss the play of children. To do so will be to get away 
from the main point under consideration. 

4 Why do play and vice often go together? Has 
vice any right to the ownership of play or to compan¬ 
ionship with it? 

5 What is to be the future of play in those country 
districts where city amusements have as yet made small 
entrance? Will commercialism win out there also, or 
can public opinion be stirred and leadership provided 
for a wholesome recreation program? 


[ 158 ] 


Bibliography 


Constructive Public Opinion 

Play,—the Gospel of Play, the Importance of Private Re¬ 
creation. See entries on Public Opinion under Proposed Solu¬ 
tions, I Summary and Forecast p. 137. 


Books 

Baker, G. C. Indoor Games and Socials for Boys. New York 
Y. M. 0. A. Press, 1912. 75c. 

“A collection of over 200 games and suggestions for a 
variety of ‘socials,’ each planned with a definite object in 
view.” R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 

Bancroft, J. H. Games for the Playground, Home, School and 
Gymnasium. Macmillan, 1909. $1.50. 

.‘‘For use by playground and gymnasium teachers; also 
fine collection of games for home use. Descriptions of 
games and rules for playing are clear and practical.” R. 
S. F. Rec. Bib. 

Bowen, Mrs. J. T. Need of Recreation. 37th annual report of 
the National Conference of Charities and Correction, St. 
Louis, Mo., 1910. Archer Printing Co., Ft. Wayne, Ind. $2. 

Bradley, J. E. Work and Play. Pilgrim Press, Boston, 1900. 
See chapter on play, pp. 51-62. 

A chapter which emphasizes the necessity of amuse¬ 
ments and places them in their right proportion. 

Braucher, H. S. Tendencies and Developments in the Field of 
Public Recreation. New York Playground and Recreation 
Association of America, 1911. Reprinted from The Play¬ 
ground, July, 1911. 5c. 

Chesley, A. M. Social Activities for Men and Boys. New York 
Y. M. C. A. Press, 1910. $1. 

“An illustrated manual of 300 ways to entertain, suitable 
for small evening neighborhood gatherings, school enter¬ 
tainments, church socials. Games, circuses, celebrations 
of holidays, etc. No special equipment required.” R. S. F. 
Rec. Bib. 

Cleaver, T. R. Winter Sport Book. Macmillan, 1912. $1.50. 

Descriptive, interpretative, illustrated. 

Collier, John. Leisure Time, the last Problem of Conservation. 
Playground, June, 1912. Reprinted by the Playground and 
Recreation Association of America. 1 Madison Ave., New 
York City. 10c. 

A valuable statement of the problem. 

Curtis, H. S. Play and Recreation for the Open Country. Ginn, 
1914. $1.16. 

Many fresh suggestions are included. 

[ 159 ] 



Dier, J. C. ed. Book of Winter Sports, Macmillan, 1913. $1.50. 

A valuable compilation of many articles on the leading 
winter sports. 

Dudley, Gertrude. Athletic Games in the Education of Women. 

Holt, 1909. $1.25. 

“This book fills a real need in presenting fully and satis¬ 
factorily the value of athletic games in women’s social edu¬ 
cation and training for citizenship.” A. L. A. Booklist. 

Gillin, J. L. The Sociology of Recreation. The American Jour¬ 
nal of Sociology, May, 1914. v. 19, pp. 825-834. 

Groos, Karl. The Play of Man. Appleton, 1908. $1.50. 

A technical work on the psychology and philosophy of 
play. 

Hunt, E. R. Play of Today. Lane, 1913. $1.50. 

Studies in play. 

Israels, Mrs. B. L. Recreation in Rural Communities. Proceed¬ 
ings, Conference of Charities and Correction, 1911. pp. 103— 
107. 

The need made clear. 

Johnson, C. E. Education by Plays and Games. Ginn, 1907. 90c. 

A compact manual dealing with children’s games but 
also suggestive for grown ups. 

Lee, Joseph. Play as an Antidote to Civilization. New York 

Playground and Recreation Association of America, 1911. 
10c. 

Lyman, Edna. Story Telling—What to Tell and How to Tell It. 
McClurg, 1910. 75c. 

“Of interest to grown-ups as well as children. Also 
contains very complete list of books for story tellers.” R. 
S. F. Rec. Bib. 

McKenzie, R. T. Exercise in Education and Medicine. Saund¬ 
ers, Philadelphia, 1909. $3.50. 

A comprehensive treatment of physical education amply 
illustrated. 

Perry, C. A. Unused Recreational Resources of the Average 

Community. Russell Sage Foundation. 5c. 

Suggests many ways in which communities may have 
organized recreation at a small cost. 

Playground and Recreation Association of America. Course in 

play for grade teachers. New York, Published by the asso¬ 
ciation. 15c. 

Suggestive for school teachers who are called upon to 
direct the play time of their pupils. 

Suffolk and Berkshire, H. C. M. P. H. and Others. Encyclopedia 
of Sports and Games. New edition v. 4, Lippincott, $12. 

The most comprehensive work on the subject. British 
but treats American sports. Profusely illustrated. 

Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Plays 
and Games for Schools. Madison, Published by the state, 
1911. 

A booklet issued by the State of Wisconsin for the use 
of children in the public schools. 

[160] 


Periodicals 


A.ddams, Jane. Public Recreation and Social Morality. Chari¬ 
ties and the Commons, August 3, 1907, v. 18, pp. 492-494. 

Amusement as a Factor in Man’s Spiritual Uplife. Current Lit¬ 
erature, August 1909, v. 47, pp. 185-188. 

Pointed presentation of some interesting - contrasts in 
American amusements and occupations. Selections ar« 
given from Professor S. M. Patten’s Product and Climax. 

Braucher, Howard. Play and Social Progress. Annals of the 
American Academy, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 325-333. 

Reveals an intimate knowledge of people’s needs. 

Brown, E. E. Part of Play in Education for Life. Charities 
and the Commons, May 4, 1907, v. 18, pp. 155-157. 

The need of play in all phases of life. 

Cabot, R. C. The Soul of Play. The Playground, v. 9, no. 9. 25c. 

“An inspiring article based on the author’s belief that 
‘through responsibility, recreation and affection, God can 
make a happy and successful life out of any material and 
in any environment.’ ” R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 

Davis, Hartley. The Play and the Public. Outlook, November 
25, 1911, v. 99, pp. 767-775. 

Discusses the important relationship of the play to the 
public. 

Gallaudet, H. D. A River Vacation and Some Assets. Outlook, 
May 27, 1911, v. 98, pp. 156-162. 

Goldsbury, P. W. Recreation Through the Senses. Atlantic 
Monthly, March, 1911, v. 107, pp. 411-423. 

Interesting statement of the ability of the different sense 
organs to give recreation. 

Gulick, L. H. Popular Recreation and Public Morality. Annals 
of the American Academy, July, 1909, v. 34, pp. 33-42. 

Valuable article on the essential relation of pouplar re¬ 
creation and public morality, as interdependent factors. 

Hoben, Allen. Ethical Value of Organized Play. Bibical 
World, March, 1912, v. 39, pp. 175-187. 

Makes clear its importance. 

Johnson, G. E. Catching up with Athens. Survey, May 1, 1909, 
v. 22, pp. 165-166. 

Athenian education was based on play as a means of 
training. 

Lee, Joseph. Play as a School of the Citizen. Charities and 
the Commons, August 3, 1907, v. 18, pp. 486-491. 

Mallery, O. T. The Social Significance of Play. Annals of the 
American Academy, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 368-373. 

Need of Play. North American, January, 1909, v. 189, pp. 
159-160. 

The busy man needs play every day. 

[ 161 ] 


11 






Pier, A. S. Work and Play. Atlantic, November, 1904, v. 94, 
pp. 669-675. 

A serious paper on the proper adjustment of work and 
play. 

Play for the People. Independent, February 28, 1907, v. 62, 
pp. 513-514. 

Effective plea for recognition of play as a potent factor 
in character building. 

Rural Recreation, The Playground. September, 1911, v. 5, pp.| 
181-216. November, 1912, v. 6, pp. 267-308. 

Special numbers of the Playground which deal with the 
subject. 

Scudder, M. T. Rural Recreation, a Socializing Factor. Annals 
of the American Academy. March, 1912, v. 40, pp. 175-190. ( 

Many suggestions are given. 


2 EFFORTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF 
THE DRAMATIC GROUP 

A The Drama League and Similar Organizations s 

Constructive public opinion has already grappled I 
with all phases of this problem. In the matter of the 
drama there have recently appeared spontaneous move-] 
ments in several cities for freer and finer expressions j 
of dramatic art. They are protests against the com-1 
mercialization, the bad taste, and the bad morals of] 
much recent drama and are likewise constructive ef¬ 
forts to improve conditions. Such are the Drama! 
League of America, the New Theater and the Little! 
Theater in New York, the Toy Theater in Boston, the! 
Drama Society of Boston, The Chicago Dramatic So-j 
ciety, and the drama departments of women’s clubs.II 
A number of high class companies are fighting the j 
same battle in devoting themselves to the best drama at I 
risk of financial loss. 

The Drama League of America is a national organi- I 
zation with a national program. It has not aimed to 


[ 162 ] 




establish a negative censorship of the theater. Its ob¬ 
ject, on the other hand, has been 

“To crowd out vicious plays by attending and commending 
good plays and building up audiences for them through study 
classes, reading circles and lectures; to aid in the restoration 
of the drama to its honorable place as the most intimate, the 
most comprehensive, most democratic medium for the self-ex¬ 
pression of the people.” “In furtherance of this object, there 
have been evolved two branches of activity, acting through com¬ 
mittees, viz.: the education committee, which cultivates the 
dramatic taste of the audiences by the study and reading of 
plays outside the theater, and the play-going committee, which 
aims to secure actual box-office support of worthy plays.” 62 

The league also issues study courses, organizes chil¬ 
dren’s drama clubs, interests teachers in drama study 
and in the league, prepares lists of plays for amateur 
acting clubs and otherwise seeks to create a public 
opinion which shall hold a balance of power to cast on 
the side of the best things. 

“The Drama League * * * does not claim as yet to be 

able to make or mar a play—to dictate arbitrarily as to produc¬ 
tion; but it does hope as its influence grows in Night Stands to 
be able to support a League play so strongly in advance as to 
bring to many of the small towns better plays than they would 
otherwise get. It aims to discover for the manager the audi¬ 
ence that will enjoy a given play and bring the manager, the 
play and the special audience together” 03 

“Last year in Chicago there were 150 plays—100 of these 
were musical comedies and therefore, not noticed by the 
League. Of the other fifty, sixteen were approved by the 
League as worthy and bulletined. This will show a saving of 
attendance on, thirty-four worthless plays, or more than two- 
thirds of all productions.” 64 

“The league” now has “90,000 affiliated members, * * * 

and the work is reaching out in numberless directions, bear- 

62 The Drama, Progress of the Drama League , November, 1911, p. 
223 

82 Mrs. A. Starr Best, in The Drama, February, 1914, p. 135. 

84 Ibid ; p. 138. 


[ 163 ] 







ing upon schools, colleges, libraries, clubs and individuals, and 
dealing with play-attending, play-study, festivals, pageants, 
and all forms of dramatic literature; but always with the au¬ 
dience—not interfering with the other side of the footlights.” 68 

“* * * it has found the nation at large eager and ready 

to adopt the suggestion that the people must be roused to a 
realization of responsibility for national amusements, that it is 
only as the theater-going public asserts itself that we can have 
better plays. * * * Given a receptive theater-going public 

definitely announcing its interest in good plays, the managers 
will quickly put on such plays; the dramatists will respond to 
the call, and the theater will be transformed. But first of all 
an organized audience must be created.” 66 


B The Movement for Amateur Dramatics 

There is in America a wide, spontaneous interest in 
amateur dramatics. It expresses itself in plays pre¬ 
sented by little groups- of drama lovers in every type 
of community from the smallest villages to the most 
crowded sections of Chicago and New York. Some¬ 
times acting the plays of the great dramatists, some¬ 
times producing plays of their own, these little groups 
are centers of dramatic enthusiasm. They are fre¬ 
quently independent organizations in the community, 
but more often spring up in connection with a school, 
a settlement, a college or university. Their point of 
view is local rather than national and their purpose is 
dramatic expression rather than any direct effort to 
improve conditions in the commercial theater. They 
do not constitute an organized movement with a na¬ 
tional propaganda like the Drama League, but are 
none the less significant. Indeed their very spon¬ 
taneity, springing up as they do locally, makes them 
a true expression of the nation’s love of drama, inde- 

65 Mrs. A. Starr Best, in The Drama, February, 1914, pp. 148-149 
68 Ibid., pp. 136-137. 


[ 164 ] 




pendent of the commercial theater. The plays they 
present may often be poorly acted from the view point 
of the average audience, accustomed to professionals, 
but their acting, whatever its quality, is their own and 
a real expression of their love of art. This means free¬ 
dom and democracy in art, and in the end good art as 
well as sound morality. When true to the amateur 
spirit these groups stand for a fine correlation of all 
the agencies necessary to the production of a drama, 
the need of high minded authors, managers, players, 
and audiences. 

Such groups naturally come to their fullest expres¬ 
sion where dramatic leadership-is at its best,-as often 
in a great university. Here are frequently found pro¬ 
fessors of dramatic literature, translators and play¬ 
wrights of ability, capable managers, actors with tal¬ 
ent, and appreciative audiences. 

The purpose of the Wisconsin Dramatic Society, 
which seeks to unite groups of amateurs throughout 
the state, is “to raise the standard of dramatic appre¬ 
ciation in the community; to encourage the support of 
the best plays; to encourage the reading of good plays 
in English and in translation from other languages; to 
encourage the translation, composition, and publication 
of good plays; to conduct companies for the production 
of high class plays at a low price.” Similarly The 
Dramatic League of New York City purposes “to pro¬ 
mote in public schools, social centers, settlements, 
churches and other agencies amateur dramatic per¬ 
formances having an educational value.” 

The amateur dramatic movement as a whole is of 
deep significance in improving the status of drama in 
American life through fundamentally constructive ac¬ 
tion. 


[ 165 ] 





Suggestions for Group Discussion 


1 What is the most immediate and effective way 
to improve dramatic conditions in “our town”? How 
would it do to cooperate in the use of the “white list” 
of the Drama League and at the same time attempt to 
cultivate a more general appreciation of the best plays 
by reading and producing some of them in amateur 
dramatics ? 

2 A report should be given on the best available 
plays for amateurs. 


C Endowed and Civic Theaters 

Privately endowed or municipal theaters are a fur¬ 
ther effort to improve theatrical conditions. They may 
properly be considered as a part of the amateur dram¬ 
atic movement, as institutional centers for the cultiva¬ 
tion and expression of dramatic art where a local 
school of actors and playwrights may be developed. 
The movement has made considerable progress in Eng¬ 
land and Germany and its purpose in America is said to 
be “the establishment of civic or municipal theaters 
where the best plays both classic and modern, shall be 
given by a well trained stock company at reasonable 
prices.” 


Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 How has the need of a municipal theater been 
altered if at all by the spread of motion pictures? 

2 How large a proportion of the population of “our 
town” would a municipal theater be likely to reach? 


[ 166 ] 


Bibliography 


The Drama League and Similar Organizations 

The Movement for Amateur Dramatics 

BooTcs 

Davis, M. M., Jr. The Theaters. The Exploitation of Pleasure. 
1911, pp. 50-58. 

Valuable constructive suggestions; see similar reports 
listed under The Problem, I and II. 


Periodicals 

Municipal Theater and Concert Hall. American City, May, 1911. 

Best, Mrs. A. S. The Drama League of America, 1914. Drama, 
February, 1914, No. 13, pp. 135-150. 

Summary of its work and success. 

Bulletin of the Catholic Theater Movement. The Bulletin, pub¬ 
lished monthly, 120 W. 60th St., New York City. 

Sets forth the purposes of this movement and gives to 
members desired information. 

Burton, Richard. The Theater and the People. The Drama, 
May, 1912, pp. 169-190. 

A particularly able and comprehensive article. 

Collier, John. Cheap Amusements. Charities and the Commons, 
April 11, 1908, v. 20, pp. 73-76. 

Gives results of nn investigation of cheap amusements 
on Manhattan Island, and instructive argument. 

Creel, G-. Little Country Theater. Collier, May 2, 1914, v. 53, 

p. 22. 

A suggestive idea for country towns. 

Dickinson, T. H. The Case of American Drama. The Drama, 
November, 1911, pp. 162-177. 

The spirit of the amateur must recreate American drama. 

Eaton, W. P. Real Foes of Serious Drama. American Maga¬ 
zine, October, 1911, v. 72, pp. 691-700. 

A plea for the support of serious drama by serious peo¬ 
ple. 

Elevation of the Stage. Atlantic, May, 1907, v. 99, pp. 721-723. 
Necessary to elevate human nature in order to raise the 
arts which serve it. 

Firkins, O. W. Literature and the Stage. Atlantic, April, 1912, 
v. 109, pp. 477-483. 

Leonard, W. E. The Wisconsin Dramatic Society. The Drama, 

May, 1912, pp. 222-237. 

An expression of the movement for amateur dramatics. 

[ 167 ] 



Lovett, R. M. The Season of the Chicago Theater Society. The 

Drama, May, 1912, pp. 238-259. 

A record of interesting- experiences. 

Moses, M. J. Regeneration of the Theater. Forum, May, 1911, 

v. 45, pp. 584-588. 

Interesting discussions of present day conditions in the 
theater with special reference to the trust. 

New Phase in College Theatricals. Literary Digest, January 17, 
1914, v. 48, p. 109. 

A project to build a college theater. 

Outlook of the Drama in America. Review of Reviews, Jan¬ 
uary, 1912, v. 45, pp. 103-104. 

Optimistic comment by Prof. William Lyon Phelps. 

The New Drama. Poet Lore, Spring number, 1912, v. 23, pp. 
145-160. 

A suggestive resume of constructive efforts for improve¬ 
ment of dramatic conditions. 

Smith, J. H. The Melodrama. Atlantic, March, 1907, v. 99, 

pp. 320-328. 

Holds that it has a large legitimate place. 

Squire, Frances. The Stage and Democracy. Twentieth Cen¬ 
tury, March, 1912, v. 5, pp. 57-63. 

“The drama that is coming—the drama of an adolescent 
democracy.” 

Stead, W. T. Salvation of the Stage. World To-Day, Novem¬ 
ber, 1906, v. 11, pp. 1151-1154. 

Deplores the general condition of the theater but ex¬ 
presses hope for its regeneration. 

White List for Plays. Literary Digest, February 28, 1914, v. 48, 
p. 434. 

The Catholic theater movement. 

Winter, William. Shadows of the Stage. Harper’s Weekly, 
September 24, 1910, to April 22, 1911, v. 54 and 55. 

A series of fearless articles by a leading dramatic critic. 


Endowed and Civic Theaters 


Books 


Mackaye, Percy. Civic Theater in Relation to the Redemption 
of Leisure. Kennerly, 1913. $1.25. 

A comprehensive plan well set forth. 

Mackaye, P. W. 

$1.25. 

Emphasizes the influence of the theater, the need for en- 
opinion ’ and advocates the establishment 

VI- vm *c s# 


The Playhouse and the Play. Macmillan, 1909, 


[ 168 ] 


Teriodicals 


Ames, Winthrop. The New Theater. Collier, October 23, 1909, 
v. 44, p. 17. 

Plans for the first season outlined with illustrations. 

Barker, H. G. The Theater; the Next Phase. Forum, August, 
1910, v. 44, pp. 159-170. 

A plea for municipal theaters. 

Ford, J. L. Plea for the Free Theater. Munsey, October, 1902, 
v. 28, pp. 148-152. 

Tells why attempts to establish such a theater have been 
failures—good service that might be done. 

Herts, A. M. Children’s Educational Theater. Atlantic, Decem¬ 
ber, 1907, v. 100, pp. 798-806. 

Tells the power for good of this enterprise. 

Israels, B. L. Another Aspect of the Children’s Theater. 
Charities and the Commons, January 4, 1908, v. 11, pp. 
1310-1311. 

Questions whether the children’s theater is really doing 
all that was hoped for it. 

Mackaye, P. W. The Civic Theater. Drama, February, 1911, 
pp. 98-115. 

Mathews, Brander. Question of the Theater. North American 
Review, March, 1902, v. 174, pp. 395-406. 

Scholarly article discussing the establishment of an en¬ 
dowed theater in America. 

Municipal Theater: an Interesting Experiment in City Life. 
Outlook, December 21, 1912, v. 102, pp. 852-854. 

At Northampton, Mass. 

New Theater. American Magazine, March, 1910, v. 69, pp. 
696-704. 

Pierce, L. F. First Municipal Theater in America. World To- 
Day, June, 1905, v. 8, pp. 664-665. 

Endowed theater given to the town of Red Wing, Minn., 
by a generous citizen. 

Russell, Isaac. A Pioneer Municipal Theater and Its Lessons. 
Craftsman, March, 1911, v. 19, pp. 563-568. 

Account of a Kansas experiment. 

Smith, C. S. Theater for the People and the Public Schools. 
Charities and the Commons, February 4, 1905, v. 13, pp. 
425-429. 

Result of Shakespearian plays given in Cooper Union, 
New York City, showing the need of a permanent place for 
such presentations. 

Stuart, D. C, Endowed Theater and the University. North 
American Review, November, 1911, v. 194, pp. 760-764. 

An interesting plea for an endowed university theater. 

To Re-organize Children’s Theater. Charities and the Commons, 
June 6, 1908, v. 20, pp. 307-308. 

Editorial on the change in the management of the chil¬ 
dren’s theater, pointing out its value. 

[ 169 ] 





3 EFFORTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF THE 
SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP 


As Seen In Social Settlements, Churches, Christian Associations, 
Social And Recreation Centers 

Constructive public opinion in relation to the prob¬ 
lems of the social rendezvous group affirms the validity 
of impulses to sociability, just as it recognizes the place 
and power of the dramatic impulse. It sees in the 
present congestion of home life in cities—in the abnor¬ 
mal conditions under which great numbers of young 
people are forced to work and play—the underlying 
causes of the evils emerging in public dance halls, cafes 
with amusement features, and similar resorts. It af¬ 
firms that the widespread breakdown of character 
which occurs in these places is due less to inherent 
moral defects than to the rapacity of liquor dealers and 
the profit-seeking management of amusement enter¬ 
prises. It points out the need of safe-guarding every 
phase of social life from exploitation, and of counter¬ 
acting the evils of loneliness, over-crowding, fatigue, 
and barren leisure. It exerts itself against promiscu¬ 
ous sociability, and endeavors to make adequate pro¬ 
vision for safer social pleasures. 

This type of public interest expresses itself in a va¬ 
ried provision for social life in settlement houses, 
churches, Christian Associations 1 , social and recrea¬ 
tion centers, and the like. 

The social settlements, now numbering approxi¬ 
mately 413 in the United States, have pointed the way 
toward solutions of the problem by establishing in con¬ 
gested districts their attractive neighborhood houses, 
open and inviting to the varied interests of the people. 


[ 170 ] 


Social clubs and classes of every sort that lind a re¬ 
sponse in the people’s sense of need are offered and 
made as independent and democratic as possible. Op¬ 
portunities for social life, often including dancing, are 
provided, and dancing in natural social groups in the 
midst of an attractive development of the varied inter¬ 
ests of life subsides from the abnormal place it holds 
among many young people to its normal place. 

The social life connected with churches of all de¬ 
nominations is a fact of primary importance when seen 
in relation to this problem. Those who desire the solu¬ 
tion of social problems do well to remember that 
“There are in this country 218,147 churches with a 
membership of more than 35,000,000. ” 67 This means 
! organized social life of the utmost significance. 

In the churches the family group is still the natural 
unit, and great numbers of young people in city and 
country meet for social pleasures under the best con¬ 
ditions. The importance of this democratic yet safe¬ 
guarded social life can hardly be over-emphasized. If 
the churches were to utilize to the full their natural ad¬ 
vantages for the extension of their social activities and 
reassert with new power their established opposition to 
class distinctions and their historic emphasis upon the 
religious life as a life of joy, they could take the lead 
among the constructive agencies active on this phase 
of the problem. 

The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian As¬ 
sociations have rapidly increased to the number of two 
thousand three hundred fifty-seven for young men in 
the United States and Canada, and nine hundred forty- 
nine for young women in the United States. These As¬ 
sociations make an important contribution by their 

« 7 R. Fulton Cutting, The Church and Society, p. 2. 

[171] 








provision of dormitory life and social opportunities. 
Their attractive buildings contain facilities for various 
gymnasium activities and games, lectures, concerts, 
amateur theatricals, and friendly gatherings. They 
help to create and maintain standards of social moral¬ 
ity. 

The Young Men’s Associations are in direct competi¬ 
tion with pool halls and “hangouts” for men, and the 
reported use of city Association buildings or rooms by 
six hundred twenty-five thousand five hundred ninety- 
eight members in 1913 indicates the effectiveness of. 
their rivalry. 

The significance of the many leagues, fraternities, 
secret orders and social clubs for men, and likewise 
the National Guard as a social organization, should be 
fully appreciated. 

The movement for the wider use of school buildings 
has rapidly assumed national significance. These 
buildings are already owned by the people themselves 
in their corporate capacity, and represent in the aggre- ; 
gate vast sums of money which are yielding annually 
but a fraction of the return which the community may 
justly expect from them. The Russell Sage Founda¬ 
tion reports the results of a questionnaire covering the 
development of social centers for 1912-13 as follows: 

“Cities reporting some paid workers, 71; cities in which 
board of education provided heat, light and janitor service, 126. 
Expenditures reported, $324,575.” “While the number of cities 
reporting paid workers has not quite doubled, the amount of 
the expenditures reported is nearly two and a half times as 
great as it was in 1911-12.” 

The recreation features of social centers vary of 
course with the character of the community, but usu¬ 
ally include such activities as public lectures, literary 
and musical clubs, handicraft *or domestic science 


[ 172 ] 


classes, athletics, game rooms, reading rooms, neigh¬ 
borhood nights, old fashioned sociables, and dancing 
parties, all conducted under supervision. Meetings for 
the discussion of neighborhood interests and public 
questions naturally grow out of this closer association 
of neighbors and fellow townsmen. 

The rapidly increasing popularity of social centers 
has been traced to their character as neighborhood in¬ 
stitutions, to the freedom afforded the individual, his 
sense of ownership, and the active rather than passive 
character of the place. It helps to develop the spon¬ 
taneous interests of the neighborhood. It is apparent 
that this movement, as yet in its infancy, is to bulk 
large in the social and recreational life of the future if 
the centers are carefully supervised and their activities 
guided by those who understand social needs. It prom¬ 
ises, indeed, to offer a fundamental contribution to the 
solution of our problem. The cooperation of public 
libraries with all social and recreation centers in estab¬ 
lishing branch libraries is highly desirable. 

The development of artistic dancing—folk dances 
and the like—in the settlements and recreation centers, 
is the most direct effort of recent years to restore an 
appreciation of the dance as a form of art, and to offer 
a corrective to excesses in the modern dances. 

All of these agencies, however, are far from adequate 
to meet the situation as a whole. Many groups of 
young people have little or no relation with any of 
them and conduct their social affairs in public halls 
rented for each occasion. This is the common method 
for social club dances, and many such clubs protect the 
privacy of their affairs by rigidly excluding outsiders, 
by providing chaperones and other safeguards. They 
help greatly in this way to avoid the evils of promis¬ 
cuous dancing as found in commercial places. 

[173] 




The city of Chicago has attractive halls in its public 
parks which are leased to private parties under careful 
regulation and with great success. This plan of giving 
the use of the assembly halls in the field houses to so- I 
cieties or groups, instead of to individuals or to the j 
general public, aids in solving the problem of promts- j 
cuous acquaintance and attendant evils. “ Anybody is 
welcome but anybody must belong to some social body 
before anybody can.come.” 

This principal is fundamentally different from that 
upon which the experiment of a general municipal 
dance in the largest available building has sometimes 
been attempted, for in the latter all groups are merged, 
and social promiscuity is given free reign. 

Of the Chicago provisions Miss Addams says: 

“The free rent in the park to all, the good food in the park 
restaurant, supplied at cost, have made three parties closing at 
eleven o’clock no more expensive than one party breaking up 
at daylight, too often in disorder. Is not this an argument I 
that the drinking, the late hours, the lack of decorum, are 
directly traceable to the commercial enterprise which ministers 
to pleasure in order to drag it into excess because excess is 
more profitable? To thus commercialize pleasure is as mon¬ 
strous as it is to commercialize art. It is intolerable that the 
city does not take over this function of making provision for 
pleasure, * * *” 68 

The fifteenth annual report of the City Superintend- 1 
ent of Schools of New York City contains the following 
upon social centers: 

“The demeanor of the young men has continued to be most j 
exemplary. The men in attendance have constituted them- i 
selves guardians of the peace and have been careful that the 
behavior of all who attended should be beyond criticism. * * * 
All agree that in the public school dancing classes we have the 


88 Jane Addams, The Spirit of Youth and The City Street, pp. 97-98. 

[ 174 ] 



strongest weapon with which to oppose the evils of the public 
dance halls.” 

The Milwaukee Survey shows that about one-eighth 
of those in public dance halls were “in good surround¬ 
ings, in carefully supervised dancing academies and in 
family gatherings, in halls where older people of the 
neighborhood were in attendance.” This quotation 
would seem to indicate that dancing academies in gen¬ 
eral if carefully supervised, as they are not, in fact, 
ordinarily, might be a help in solving the dance hall 
problem. It also makes clear the more important fact 
that the restoration of social dancing to its place as a 
private recreation where parents or other older per¬ 
sons are present, in family gatherings or small social 
groups, and where promiscuous acquaintance is avoid¬ 
ed, is a restoration to its natural place. 

The cultivation of private social parties properly 
conducted should indeed be recognized at its full value. 
However important may be the contribution of the 
agencies described above, they can do little more than 
point the way toward solutions of the problem. The 
social recreations of the people will continue to be for 
the most part financially independent and conducted 
by natural social groups. Even in the poorer districts 
of the larger cities, these groups will continue to be 
socially independent and self-sustaining. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 Do these organizations, most of which were 
formed primarily for other purposes, have a direct 
bearing on the improvement of social recreation? In 
how many of them in “our town” could the social fea¬ 
tures be more highly developed? Would this make 
them more attractive to young people? 


[ 175 ] 





2 Discuss the general importance of a well devel¬ 
oped selective social life. 

3 Are our schoolhouses giving the citizens full re¬ 
turn for the money that goes into them? How could 
we extend their use ? 

4 Discuss the principles involved in group dancing 
versus public dancing. Do you approve the principle 
of giving the use of public assembly halls to societies or 
well defined groups instead of to individuals or the 
general public? 

5 ' Do you see any possibilities in the solution of the 
dance situation in a fuller development of folk dances 
and other forms requiring the participation of a num¬ 
ber of people, such as the old fashioned square dances 
and Virginia reel? 


Bibliography 

Social Settlements, Churches, Christian Associations, Social 
and Recreation Centers 

Books 

Addams, Jane. Twenty Years at Hull House. Macmillan, 1910. 

$2.50. 

Coffin, C. and C. H. Dancing and Dancers of Today. January, 

1913. $4. 

A full treatment of the modern revival of dancing as an 
art. 

Crawford, Caroline. Folk Dances and Games. Barnes, 1908. 
$1.50. 

Davis, M. M., Jr. Use of Public School Buildings. The Exploit¬ 
ation of Pleasure. 1911, pp. 47-48. 

Flitch, J. E. C. Modern Dancing and Dancers. Lippincott, 

1913. $3.75. 

An elaborate presentation. 

Grice, Mrs. M. V. Home and School United in Widening Cir¬ 
cles of Inspiration and Service. Sower, Philadelphia, 1909. 
60c. 

Gulick, L. H. Folk Dancing. Russell Sage Foundation, N. Y. 
10c. 

[ 176 ] 


Gulick, L. H. Healthful Art of Dancing. 1910. 

“This study treats of the origin, development and phil¬ 
osophy of the ancient art of folk-dancing, with special 
reference to its value and adaptability to American life as 
a physiological, educational and social factor. Includes 
an appendix giving a classified list of folk-dances suitable 
for various classes and occasions.” R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 

King, I. School as a Center of the Social Life of the Commun¬ 
ity. Bibliography (in his Social Aspects of Education) pp. 
65-97. 

Admirable review of the subject. 

Lee, Joseph. Constructive and Preventive Philanthropy. Mac¬ 
millan, 1906. $1. 

Compact statements on playgrounds, baths, and gym¬ 
nasiums, outings, etc. 

National Society for the Study of Education. Tenth yearbook: 
part 1, The city school as a community center; part 2, The 
rural school as a community center; ed. by S. C. Parker, 
University of Chicago, 1911. 75c each. 

Articles by social center workers. Each part contains a 
bibliography on city and rural schools as social centers. 

Perry, C. A. Wider Use of the School Plant. N. Y. Charities 
Publication Committee, 1910. $1.25. 

Rochester Social Center and Civic Clubs; a Story of the First 
Two Years. Rochester League of Civic Clubs, 1909. 40c. 

Pamphlet presenting all sides of the social center move¬ 
ment of Rochester, N. Y. during the two years from 1907 
to 1909. 

Smith, C. S. Working With the People. Wessels, 1904. 50c 

See chapters on Other Departments, pp. 34-45; A People’s 
Club, pp. 79-103; A People’s Hall, pp. 104-117. 

Describes the means provided by the People’s Institute 
of New York toward civic betterment. 

Stern, R. B. Neighborhood Entertainments. Sturgis, 1910. 75c. 

This volume of the Young Farmer’s Practical Library 
gives suggestions for increasing social pleasures in rural 
communities. 

Urlin, E. L. Dancing Ancient and Modern. Appleton, 1912. 
$1.50. 

Dances of many nations. 

Ward, E. J. Social Centers. Appleton, 1913. $1.50 

Vigorously advocates the use of public school buildings 
as social and civic centers. 

Wilson, Woodrow. The Social Center. Bulletin of the Univer¬ 
sity Extension Division, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 
Wis. Mailed on request without charge to citizens of the 
state. Outside of state, 5c. 

An address delivered by Hon. Woodrow Wilson, Governor 
of New Jersey, before the First National Conference on 
Civic and Social Center Development, at Madison, Wis., 
October 25, 1911. 

Wisconsin University. Extension Division. Addresses Deliv¬ 
ered Before the First National Conference on Civics and 
Social Center Development, at Madison, Wis., October 25, 
1911. Madison, Published by the university, 5c each. 

12 L177 J 




Wisconsin University—Extension Division. Introductory State¬ 
ment of Bureau of Civic and Social Center Development. 
Madison, Published by the university, May, 19ll. 5c. 

Contains a bibliography and a suggested neighborhood 
civic club constitution. 

Woods, R-. A. and Kennedy, A. J., editors. Handbook of Settle¬ 
ments. N. Y. Charities Publication Committee, 1911. Rus¬ 
sell Sage Foundation publications. $1.50. 

“The date of foundation, the kind of neighborhood, the 1 ! 
number of residents, the activities and the authorized liter-i 
ature of each of the 413 settlements listed are given. In¬ 
tended to continue the work of the Bibliography of Settle¬ 
ments, published by the College Settlements Association, 1 , 
up to 1905. Classed bibliography.” A. L. A. Booklist. 

Periodicals 

Bums, A. T. Chicago Commons 1894-1911. Survey, July 22/ 

1911, v. 26, pp. 597-598. 

A brief resume of the important work which has been 
done by the Chicago Commons. 

Country School a Social Center. Survey, August 20, 1910. 

Brief account of neighborhood civic club, Greece, N. Y. 
Curtis, H. S. Neighborhood Center American City. July-Au-J 
gust, 1912, pp. 14-17, 133-137. 

Presents different types of centers. 

Curtis, H. S. Rural Social Center. American Journal of Socio¬ 
logy. July, 1913, v. 19, pp. 79-90. 

A general presentation. 

Ellis, Havelock. Philosophy of Dancing. Atlantic, February,! 
1914, v. 113, pp. 197-207. 

Dancing a fundamental art. 

Gale, Zona. Adventure of Being Human. Outlook, January 27, : 

1912, v. 100, pp. 171-172. 

The social center idea. 

Gulick, L. H. and Smith, H. J. Dancing as a Part of Educa¬ 
tion. World's Work, October, 1907, v. 14, pp. 9445-9452. 

Definite instruction in dancing given to New York public! 
school girls in place of other , forms of gymnastics. 

Hall, G. S. Play and Dancing for Adolescents. Independent/ 

February 14, 1907, v. 62, pp. 355-358. 

Strong statement of the value of play and dancing. 

Israels, B. L. Diverting a Pastime. Leslie's, July 27, 1911,1 

pp. 99-100. 

How we are to protect youth yet satisfy the natural de-1 
mand for entertainment. 

Jerome, Mrs. A. H. The Playground as a Social Center. An¬ 
nals of the American Academy. March, 1910, v. 35. pp 
129-133. $1. £ 

Laughlin, J. L. Aims and Methods of Social Settlements. 

Scribner, September, 1909, v. 46, pp. 341-349. 

A descriptive and interpretative article upon the subject.! 

[178] 




: Leonard, Oscar. Branch Libraries as Social Centers. Survey, 
March 18, 1911. 

Marsh, B. C. Unused Assets of Our Public Recreation Facili¬ 
ties. Annals of the American Academy. March, 1910, v. 35, 
pp. 382-385. $2. 

1 McDowell, M. E. Field Houses of Chicago and Their Possibili¬ 
ties. Charities and the Commons, August 3, 1907, v. 18, 
pp. 535-538. 

Mayer, M. J. Our Public Schools as Social Centers. Review 
of Reviews, August, 1911, v. 48, pp. 201-208. 

Illustrated description of school centers. 

•Richard, L. S. School Centers as “Melting Pots.” New Boston, 
April, 1911. 

Riis, J. A. Unique and Remarkable Work Among the Poor. 

Century, April, 1910, v. 79, pp. 850-863. 

Shows what the People’s Institute is doing for the poor 
of New York City. 

Riis, J. A. What Settlements Stand For. Outlook, May 9, 1908, 
v. 89, pp. 69-72. 

A statement of purpose by a pioneer settlement worker. 

Robbins, J. E. The Settlement and the Public School. Outlook, 
August 6, 1910, v. 95, pp. 785-787. 

A brief statement of the relationship between these two 
important institutions. 

Rural Recreation Number. The Playground, September, 1911, 
v. 5, no. 6. 

A Settlement on Three Hundred a Year. Survey, July 24, 1909, 
v. 22, pp. 573-574. 

Effective work being done by a settlement on a small 
amount of money. 

I Social Life in the Country. World’s Work. April, 1914, pp. 
614-615. 

Uses of a village hall. 

Stoddart, B. D. Recreative Centers of Los Angeles, Cal. An¬ 
nals of the American Academy, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 210- 
219. 

I Stoddart, B. D. City Neighbors at Play. Survey, July 2, 1910. 

Description of Chicago’s Park -Recreation center work. 

Social Centers in Columbus Schools. Survey, February 12, 1910, 
v. 23, pp. 696-697. 

Work following the lines laid down in Rochester, N. Y. 

Wilson, Woodrow. Need of Citizenship Organization. Ameri¬ 
can City, November, 1911, pp. 265-268. 

A lucid analysis of the civic and social center movement. 
How it is helping to solve the fundamental problem of 
modern society. 


[179J 






4 EFFORTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF THE 
ATHLETIC GROUP AND COMMERCIAL 
AMUSEMENT PLACES 

As Seen In Public Parks, Playgrounds, And The Recreation 
Movement 

Constructive public opinion has long been at work 
in the establishment of public parks and playgrounds, 
springing originally out of a desire to beautify the 
cities, and to relieve the evils of congestion. As a rec¬ 
reation movement it is now becoming conscious of its 
significance in the general reconstruction of city life. 
We have already splendid examples of public parks 
with playgrounds and recreation centers, properly su¬ 
pervised, that are able to compete effectively with com¬ 
mercial amusement parks and similar resorts, and to 
provide for free and wholesome expression of the spirit 
of play. The significance of these developments can 
hardly be overestimated. Open air, sunlight, and a 
place to play bring social and spiritual gifts as surely 
as they bring physical releases. 

The recreation and social centers in parks and school- 
houses, are rapidly carrying us toward new expressions 
of democracy. Their significance, and the value of the 
supervised recreation conducted in them grows each 
year more apparent. The vast process of social edu¬ 
cation is largely dependent upon organized recreation, 
and social education in cities is finding an open space, 
a standing ground and rallying point in public parks 
and playgrounds. They supply a physical base upon 
which neighborhood consciousness and cooperation 
may develop. They supply facilities for carrying out 
a city’s recreation program, and are more and more 


[ 180 ] 


] systematically developed as the cities become more 
, awake to their value. 

There are many extensive park and playground sys- 
I terns in the leading cities of the nation, notably New 
York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston, Balti¬ 
more, Cleveland, Buffalo and San Francisco. 

Three hundred forty-two cities in the United States 
and Canada were reported in 1913 to be maintaining 
:: 2,402 regularly supervised playgrounds and recreation 
; 1 centers at a total expenditure of $5,700,223.81, and to 
i be employing 6,318 workers. 69 

Playground commissions which have been organized 
; in a number of cities have rendered invaluable service. 

, From the point of view of this study, the South Park 
;, system in Chicago is especially noteworthy as the most 
. conspicuous expression of conscious effort to meet a 
i great city’s recreational needs with adequate provision, 

I and this despite the fact that it has been done apart 
from the school buildings of the city, and thus entailed 
a very large additional cost. Besides the more usual 
park features of walks, drives, lakes, stands for public 
; music, the museum and the zoo, these parks show cer- 
| tain distinctive features which are thus described: 

“A typical center includes both outdoor and indoor activities. 

I The outdoor activities comprise as the central feature a liber¬ 
ally planned bathing pool, with sand banks, dressing rooms, 
P cleansing showers, life guards and bathing suits. Collateral 
to this are an outdoor gymnasium for men, another for women, 

( another for boys, another for girls, running tracks, wading 
pools, and sand courts for the youngsters; also tennis courts 
and ball fields—turned into skating rinks in the winter time. 
The interior features include a thoroughly equipped gymna- 
i sium for men, another for women, each having a trained direc- 
I tor and being furnished with baths and lockers, a lunch room, 


reading and library room, one or two small club rooms for 


60 The Playground, January, 1914. 

[ 181 ] 







small gatherings and a large and beautiful assembly hall for 
neighborhood meetings, lectures or pleasure parties.” 70 

It is especially noteworthy from the point of view 
of our study that these provisions are not limited to 
children. We are here particularly concerned with 
the problems of those young people who have passed 
the age of childhood, who are possessed by the virility : 
and vehemence of youth, whose lives are full of the 
“red flare of dreams”. The public must make attrac¬ 
tive provision for their outdoor activities if they are to 
be shown a better way than that into which commercial 
amusement parks now allure them in countless num- ! 
bers. Society must not only restrict and repress the 
evil features of amusement offerings; it must let loose 
the springs of joy and gladness in a thousand natural 
ways for these young people under wdiolesome condi¬ 
tions. 

This requires not only the provision of ample public 
facilities for outdoor recreation, but also fidelity to the 
principle that athletic games shall not be played merely I 
to win nor as an end in themselves. A deeper need of 
society is met when play in all its forms is made to 
serve as a means to all-round health, development, and 
happiness; when it is made to stimulate and unify com- i 
munity life. The end of athletics is more than hard 
muscles and physical health, more than winning 
games or developing a few star players; it is nothing 
less than a broad service to citizenship, to the larger 
social needs of all the people. 

With city congestion as serious as it is, and the ex¬ 
ploitation of happiness what it is, society must in¬ 
creasingly fulfill its duty to utilize to their utmost the 

70 Chicago Playgrounds and Park Centers, The City Club Bulletin, 
March 4, 1908, v. 2, no. 1, p. 3. 

[ 182 ] 







places already provided, in order that youth may come 
into its rightful heritage. This means not only the full 
social use of all parks and playgrounds as now estab¬ 
lished, but also more recreation centers, especially de¬ 
vised to meet the needs of young people, recreation 
piers, baths and bathing beaches, skating rinks, play¬ 
ing fields, theaters for amateurs, and assembly halls 
where athletic and social life may find full expression. 

The recreation movement recognizes, however, that 
it is not enough to provide these places and leave young 
people to frequent them without guidance in the pleas¬ 
ures which develop there. The supervision of activ¬ 
ities is, after all, the essential element, without which 
the facilities provided are often worse than wasted. 
Only as counsellors and play leaders of tact and wis¬ 
dom, men and women of rich personality, are brought 
into touch with young people will recreation be sure 
to bring youth out into a rich maturity. Only fhus 
will the “upper ends” of play bear fruit in citizenship 
and community spirit. 

Volunteer and paid workers alike have a permanent 
work to do. The country needs the play-leader, espe¬ 
cially the volunteer, to save its youth from social isola¬ 
tion, and to cultivate the full realization of a common 
life. The city needs play-leaders, both volunteer and 
professional, for the city has become the house and 
home of countless young people who are forced out be¬ 
tween meals from the tiny flats in which they eat and 
sleep. In the break-up of home life which this in¬ 
volves, the play-leader becomes the big brother or sis¬ 
ter of the great city household. The gifts which 
these leaders develop* will largely settle the question 
of whether the city is to give to youth a reasonable 
chance for real pleasure, or whether it shall continue 


[183J 


to have “streets full of young people recklessly seek¬ 
ing pleasure, frequently choosing evil disguised as 
pleasure.” It is this high quality of play-leadership 
which, in the actual out-working of the recreation 
movement will largely determine the effectiveness of 
public facilities for recreation in competition with com¬ 
mercial amusement resorts and parks. If the best pub¬ 
lic opinion and moral responsibility can actually con¬ 
trol the supervision of these facilities and take the lead 
in public recreation, then low commercial offerings can 
be either driven out of business or forced to raise their 
standards. 

The Playground and Recreation Association of 
America renders a national service in working for the 
full ideal of recreation. It cooperates in making rec¬ 
reation surveys of cities, in fostering the establishment 
of comprehensive systems of recreation, in locating play- 
leaders and supervisors, in giving general information 
about recreation, and in stimulating public interest in 
all related questions. Twenty-six organizations in 
New York, with some of which recreation is only an 
incidental purpose, are cooperating in the Recreation 
Alliance of New York City. It is prophetic of the co¬ 
operative action of the future. Its purpose is declared 
as this: “ to be a center of intercommunication for the 
various organizations interested in recreation in New 
York City. To foster harmonious relations between 
them and prevent overlapping of work. To draw up 
a comprehensive plan for work in New York City, rec¬ 
ommend the adoption of this plan and endeavor to se¬ 
cure the cooperation of the various organizations in 
carrying out the plan agreed upon.” 

Constructive public opinion, persistent and effective, 
must UOW fight out on such lines as these whether 


[ 184 ] 


wholesome amusement, under reasonable guidance, can 
be made to “go” with young people under the abnor¬ 
mal conditions of city life. Every community must 
; answe i* for 1 itself this question: Have professional 
I commercial, and immoral influences gained the mastery 
in the amusement situation in our town, or can we yet 
rescue this great and beautiful portion of life to a free 
and spontaneous expression, that it, in turn, may lead 
j the way to the highest social values? Public morality 
is at stake in this struggle, and is to be reckoned as a 
value not less sacred, surely, than public health or 
safety. 

It is a prophetic picture which Miss Addams paints 
in her Spirit of Youth and the City Streets, when 
| she says: 

“Many Chicago citizens who attended the first annual meet- 
: ing of the National Playground Association of America will 
never forget the long summer day in the large playing field 
filled during the morning with hundreds of little children 
romping through the kindergarten games, in the afternoon 
with the young men and girls contending in athletic sports; 
and the evening light made gay by the bright colored garments 
of Italians, Lithuanians, Norwegians, and a dozen other na¬ 
tionalities, reproducing their old dances and festivals for the 
pleasure of the more stolid Americans. Was this a forecast of 
what we may yet see accomplished through a dozen agencies 
promoting public recreation which are springing up in every 

city of America, as they are already found in the large towns 

' 

of Scotland and England? 

“Let us cherish these experiments as the most precious be¬ 
ginnings of an attempt to supply the recreational needs of our 
industrial cities. To fail to provide for the recreation of youth 
is not only to deprive all of them of their natural form of ex¬ 
pression, but is certain to subject some of them to the over¬ 
whelming temptation of illicit and soul-destroying pleasures. 
To insist that young people shall forecast their rose-colored 
future only in a house of dreams is to deprive the real world 


[ 185 ] 





of that warmth and reassurance which it so sorely needs and 
to which it is justly entitled.” 11 


Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 Has the recreation movement become self-con¬ 
scious and organized in “our town?” 

2 Are our parks and playgrounds returning full so¬ 
cial value? 

3 How many additional play spaces could be found * 
and utilized in “our town?” What is the next most 
needed provision for public recreation? 

4 Discuss the significance of play leadership in the 
public education of the future. 

5 What does the play leader find it easy to do which 
the teacher in the classroom finds it hard to do? 

6 What fundamental changes in the national life 1 
will the recreation movement help to produce. 


Bibliography 


Public Parks, Playgrounds, The Recreation Movement 

Books 

American Park Systems. Report of the Philadelphia Allied Or¬ 
ganizations. Philadelphia, 1905. 

A concise presentation of the parks of the chief American 
cities with maps. 

Angell, Emmett. Play. 1910. See chapters on Public Play¬ 
grounds, pp. 19-26; Equipment of the Playground, pp. 27-46. 

Games for the kindergarten, playground and school. 

Bancroft, J. H. Games for the Playground, Home, School and 
Gymnasium. 1909. 

“Contains a most varied collection of games, American V 
and foreign, which are well described and thoroughly in¬ 
dexed under their uses, e. g. games for playgrounds, gym¬ 
nasiums, summer camps, children’s parties, seashore, etc.” 

A. L. A. Booklist. 


71 Jane Addams, in The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets, pp. 
102-103. ' 




[ 186 ] 






Bliss, W. D. P. New Encyclopedia of Social Reform. 1908. 
See articles on Parks, pp. 867-868; Playgrounds, p. 898. 

Braucher, H. S. Social Worker and Playground Association of 
America. In National Conferences of Charities and Correc¬ 
tion pp. 219-222. 

Hanger, G. W. W. Public Baths in the United States. In U. S. 

Labor Department Bulletin, September, 1904, no. 54, pp. 
1245-1367. $1. 

“Exhaustive report giving' accounts of municipal baths of 
every description in 37 cities; also typical non-municipal 
baths; covers their history, construction, equipment, cost, 
administration, etc. Details of the construction of special 
bathing appliances; tables of statistics; 37 plates showing 
buildings and plans.” R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 

Hanmer, L. F. First Steps in Organizing Playgrounds. New 

York Charities Publication Committee, 1908. Paper, 10c. 
Russell Sage Foundation publication. 

A useful pamphlet for cities agitating the subject. 

Hanmer, L. F. Health and Playgrounds. In National Confer¬ 
ence of Charities and Correction. 1910, pp. 153-156. 

Leland, Arthur, and Leland, L. H. editors. Playground Techni¬ 
que and Playcraft. Springfield, Mass., F. A. Bassette Co. 
1909. $2.50. 

A popular text book of playground philosophy, architec¬ 
ture, construction and equipment. 

Mero, E. B. editor. American Playgrounds. Boston American 
Gymnasia Co, 1908. $1.50. 

“Organization, equipment and management of play¬ 
grounds, with games and exercises for children and adults 
a useful compilation published to promote the es¬ 
tablishment of playgrounds.” A. L. A. Booklist. 

Playground and Recreation Association of America. Normal 
course in play for professional directors. New York, Pub¬ 
lished by the Association. 20c. 

Riis, J. A. Battle with the Slum. Macmillan, 1902. $2. See 

index under Parks and Playgrounds. 

Personal account of what was done through parks and 
playgrounds to relieve bad conditions in New York’s tene¬ 
ment districts. 


Periodicals 

Curtis, H. S. Need of a Comprehensive Playground Plan. 

American City, December, 1911, v. 5, pp. 338-340. 

Leaders in every city should make comprehensive plans. 

Hanmer, L. F. Business of Play. Charities and the Commons, 
July 4, 1908, v. 20, pp. 458-462. 

Significance of playground centers in America. 

Harmon, W. E. Compulsory Playgrounds. Survey, February 18, 
1911, v. 25, pp. 822-823. 

A timely suggestion. 


[ 187 ] 





Harmon, W. E. The Commercial Value of Playgrounds. Sur¬ 
vey, December 11, 1909, v. 23, pp. 359-361. 

Harris, G. W. Playground City. Review of Reviews, Novem¬ 
ber 5, 1905, v. 32, pp. 574-580. 

Public importance of playground. 

Kenard, Beulah. Pittsburgh’s Playgrounds. Survey, May 11, 

1909, v. 22, p. 184. 

Illustrated account of playgrounds and recreation cent¬ 
ers. 

Lee, Joseph. Boston’s Playground System. New England 

Magazine, January, 1903, v. 27 n. s. pp. 521—536. 

Illustrated account of the playground movement in 
Boston. 

Lee, Joseph. Play and Congestion. Charities and the Com¬ 
mons, April 4, 1908, v. 20, pp. 43-48. 

Suggestive in its bearing on the general questions. 

Lee, Joseph. System of Public Playgrounds. Chautauquan, 

June, 1906, v. 43, pp. 352-359. 

Logically developed points on the requirements of a 
system of public playgrounds. 

McNutt, G. L. Chicago’s Ten Million Dollar Experiment in 

Social Redemption. Independent, September 15, 1904, v. 57, 
pp. 612-617. 

An account of Chicago’s provision of better recreational 
facilities through her system of parks. 

Mero, E. B. How Public Gymnasiums and Baths Help to Make 
Good Citizens. American City, October, 1909. 

O’Brien, E. C. Recreation Piers. Municipal Affairs, Septem¬ 
ber, 1897, v. 1, pp. 509-514. 

Shows the good results of New York’s recreation pier 
movement. 

Parks and Recreation Facilities in the United States. Annals 

of the American Academy, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 217-322. 

A symposium on typical parks, national, state, county 
and city by leading experts. 

Farwell, Arthur. New York’s Municipal Music. Two years 
advance. Review of Reviews, October, 1911, pp. 451-458. 

Playground Creed of the City Playground League of New York. 

American City, November, 1911, v. 5, p. 269. 

Poole, Ernest. Chicago’s Public Playgrounds. Outlook, Decem¬ 
ber 7, 1907, v. 87, pp. 775-781. 

Chicago’s public park system, in wielding a great influ¬ 
ence. 

Public Recreation Facilities. Annals of the American Academy, 
March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 217-448. 

An important series of papers setting forth the typical 
national, state, county and city parks and the social signi¬ 
ficance of parks and playgrounds. 






Riis, J. A. Island Playgrounds of the Future. Charities and 
the Commons, September 5, 1903, v. 11, pp. 205-207. 

A description of the use to which the islands in East 
Kiver will some day be put to provide playgrounds for the 
people of the crowded quarters of New York. 


Social Significance of Parks and Playgrounds. Annals of 
American Academy, March, 1910, v. 35, pp. 323-448. 


The Playground. Playground and Recreation Association of 
America. 1 Madison Ave., New York City. (Monthly) 
$2.00 a year. 

The illustrated magazine of the national recreation move¬ 
ment. Indispensible to students of the problem. Should 
be used for constant reference. 


The Year Book. The Playground. January, 1914, v. 7, no. 10. 

Summary of outstanding facts in the recreation move¬ 
ment during 1913. Published yearly in January. 

Veiller, Lawrence. Social Value of Playgrounds in Crowded 
Districts. Charities and the Commons. August 3, 1907, 
v. 18, pp. 507-510. 


5 EFFORTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF 
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 

As Seen In Holiday Celebrations, Community Festivals, Field 
Days, Fairs and Pageants 

The charm of the special day devoted to happiness 
is deeply significant in our civic life. It answers one 
of the oldest needs of man, and of no one more than 
men and women working at high speed in mechanical 
drugery for long hours of daily labor. It is this which 
lends to the observance of Sunday as a rest day an in¬ 
tense significance in an industrial social order. Just as 
there is no exploitation of pleasure more iniquitous 
than the exploitation of holidays, there is no move¬ 
ment of constructive public opinion more beneficent 
than that for the worthy celebration of holidays, the 
movement for community festivals, field days, fairs, 
and pageants. 

The emotional life of the race cannot be registered 






by the timeclock at the factory gate. It floods the 
free spaces of the day, the week, and suffuses every 
holiday. It is this that makes them holy days. Those 
who capture the holidays of men for clean and whole- | 
some pleasures, strike a body blow at commercialism 
and vice. It is, therefore, highly significant that the 
festival holiday movement has spread rapidly in recent 
years and won for itself an enduring place among ef- ’. 
fective social agencies. 

The insane Fourth has rapidly given way to the 
sane. The celebration of the day has become enriched 
as a civic festival incorporating many forms of public j, 
recreation and noble demonstrations of patriotism. 
In 1908 four cities are reported as celebrating sanely; 
in 1913 there were 394. In 1908, there were 5,623 acci¬ 
dents reported; in 1913 the number was reduced to 
1,163. 

The distinctive values of Labor Day, Thanksgiving, 
Christmas, New Year’s, Washington’s and Lincoln’s 
birthdays, Memorial Day, and others variously cele- I 
brated, give to the year no small portion of its national 
sentiment. Worthy celebrations of all these days are a 
primary duty of public opinion in every community in 
the land. 

IIow many beautiful values can be made to live for ; 
all mankind by gaily marching children, by youths J 
contending in athletic games, by maidens winding 
’round the Maypole, by lively music quickening and 
dissolving the quaint formations of the folk dances, by 
free families released to wander with romping children 
through the parks or over the green of the countryside ! 
What courage in the Nation’s heart may not be stirred 
by reverent celebration of her dead! What daring 
hopes in the hearts of men may not be freed by rock- 

[ 190 J 







ets blazing skyward in the night! Who yet has told 
the Nation all the values of her holidays? 

The movement for festival pageants came to us from 
England, where they were revived in 1905. It has 
rapidly spread throughout the Nation, quickening civic 
enthusiasm, and revealing unused resources for the 
celebration of local and national holidays. Among the 
early pageants in the smaller cities and villages were 
those at Bronxville, New York; Gloucester, Massachu¬ 
setts; New Britain, Connecticut; Thetford and St. 
Johnsbury, Vermont; Ripon, Wisconsin; and Evanston, 
Illinois. Notable among the pageants in larger cities 
have been those in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, 
Brooklyn, and Milwaukee. Perhaps the most spectac¬ 
ular of all was the Hudson-Fulton Celebration at New 
York in 1912. 

Pageantry also played a notable part in the Alaska- 
Yukon Exposition, and will be a conspicuous feature 
of the Panama Exposition in San Francisco in 1915, 
where 52 acres are to be set aside for carefully selected 
amusement enterprises. 

The New Orleans Mardi Gras is the chief survivor in 
America of a type of the festivals of earlier days, 
chiefly Spanish in their origin. 

The principal features of pageants are tableaux of 
historical or allegorical significance, presented usually 
either on floats in street processions, or in an outdoor 
amphitheater. In its fuller development, the commun¬ 
ity pageant presents its episodes accompanied by music, 
dances, songs, conversations and speeches. It relies al¬ 
most wholly on local talent, and uses large numbers of 
people in the presentation. The tableaux frequently 
present in succession the outstanding facts of local his- 


[ 191 ] 



tory in a wide variety of scenes, as the following, for 
example, from Oxford, Mass.: 

“The scenes of the pageant began with a prologue, the years 
1674-1704, and covering the early history of Oxford. The first 
scene was John Eliot’s visit to Manchaug, the Indian name of 
Oxford. The second scene was the coming of the Huguenots, 
the first white settlers. Then followed the presentation of 
land, the Johnson Massacre, and the departure of the Huguen¬ 
ots, fleeing before the savages. The first episode, 1713-1717, 
showed the life of the English in Oxford, in the following 
scenes: Scene I The Coming of the English; Scene II Life 
in the Colony; Scene III Troublesome Times. 

“The second episode covered the period of the Revolution I 
1775, and the years that followed to 1800: Scene I Minute I 
Men; Scene II Funeral Honors for Washington; Scene III The 
Visit of Major General Hamilton. 

“The third episode began at 1690 and illustrated the rise of 
industries. The fourth episode dealt with the War of the Re¬ 
bellion, 1861-1865: Scene I The Departure of the ‘DeWitt 
Guards.’ Scene II ‘The Angel of the Battlefield.’ Epilogue 
Oxford, Past, Present and Future.” 

Three facts are of special significance in the relation 
of the pageant to the amusement problem: first, its re¬ 
liance upon a large body of amateurs, under the direc¬ 
tion of professional trainers, but not supplanted by 
them ; second, its freedom from the commercial motive, 
the returns above expenses being used ordinarily for 
community interests; and, third, its inherently moral 
atmosphere. It may well stand as our best illustration 
of the highest type of organized play. 

The social values of pageantry are many and far- 
reaching. Besides the enduring memory of beautiful 
pictures, a new pride in local history is awakened, and 
this in turn brings community interest and loyalty. 
Prejudice and social cleavage give way to neighborly 
feeling. The participation of hundreds of people in the 
acting brings a new sense of the value of cooperative 


1192 ] 




effort. The participation of school children has high 
educational value in its training of artistic expression. 

Like all other forms of art, pageantry serves to inter¬ 
pret life as a whole, and in an age predominantly social 
an art so essentially social as pageantry must have 
fundamental significance. It quickens appreciation of 
all the poetry of life—so sadly neglected in America—• 
and deepens the spiritual significance of historic events 
and national memories. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 Discuss the peculiar importance of worthy cele¬ 
brations of holidays. Why are days of special pleasure 
so memorable? 

2 A brief paper on modern pageantry should be pre¬ 
sented. Would it be possible for our group to hold an 
open-air play or start a pageant for “our town? ’ 

3 A brief statement should be made of the values of 
entertainment programs in chatauqua or other cir¬ 
cuits in certain sections of the country. These fre¬ 
quently last a week in each town in the summer. 

4 A brief statement should be made of the contri¬ 
bution made by secret and religious orders in their pro¬ 
cessions through the streets in full regalia. 

5 How much of the glamor that has been thrown 
around war, by bands and flags and marching men, is a 
part of the charm of pageantry rather than of war? 


13 


[193] 





Bibliography 


Holiday Celebrations, Community Festivals, Field Days, 
Fairs and Pageants 

Boolcs 


Arbor Day. The Arbor Day Annuals published by the states 

of Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Nebraska, New York, 
Ohio and Wisconsin are especially valuable. These are pub¬ 
lished by the state departments of education. 

Bates, E. W. Pageants and Pageantry. Ginn., 1912. $1.25. 

“Designed for the use of schools and colleges. All page¬ 
ants are so divided that they may be given as a whole or 
as individual episodes. No pains have been spared to make 
each episode historically accurate, spirited and artistic. 
Six chapters on staging, costuming, organizing, sources 
and writing of amateur pageants and plays.’’ R. S. F. Rec. 
Bib. 

Chubb, Percival, and Others. Festivals and Plays in Schools 
and Elsewhere. Harper, 1912. $2. 

“Prepared by Festivals Committee of the Ethical Culture 
School of New York City, who are leaders in American 
development of festivals, plays and allied arts. Contains 
specimen programs and general bibliography. Illustrated.” 
R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 


Dykema, P. W. Awakening Festival Spirit in America. Na¬ 
tional Education Association, 1912, pp. 1023-1030. 

An admirable review of the movement. 

Hanmer, L. F. How the Fourth was Celebrated in 1911. N. Y. 

Russell Sage Foundation, 1912. 10c. 

“For the use of committees preparing programs for the 
next Fourth of July celebration the best features of all 
the celebrations of 1911 have been put together for publi¬ 
cation. Typical ordinances and state laws included. Illus¬ 
trated.” R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 


Hazeltine, M. E., editor. Anniversaries and Holidays. Madison, 

Wisconsin Free Library commission, 1909. 25c. 


Langdon, W. C. The Pageant in America. New York. Wilson, 
1912. $1. 

“Study of the development of pageantry, and suggestions 
for American pag*eants based on the author’s experience as 
■ Master of the Pageant of Thetford, Vt., 1911, and of St 
Johnsbury, Vt., 1912.” R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 


Lincoln, J. E. C. Festival Book. Barnes, 1912. $1.50. 

“Material conveniently arranged. Contains music for 
dances, diagrams of the figures, sketches of costumes, work¬ 
ing drawings of stage properties and photographs of 
groups of dancers.” R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 

MacKay, C. D. A. Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young 
People. Holt, 1912. $1.35. 

“One act plays for young people suitable for schools 
summer camps, boys’ clubs, historic festivals, social settle¬ 
ments and playgrounds. Full directions for simple cos¬ 
tumes, dances and music.” R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 


[ 194 ] 


Needham, M. M. Folk Festivals. New York, Huebsch, 1912. 
$1.25. 

Their growth and how to give them. 

Our Holidays, Their Meaning and Spirit. Century, 1905. 65c 

Historical stories retold from St. Nicholas. 

• Hallowe’en, Election Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New 
Year’s, Lincoln’s Birthday, St. Valentine’s Day. Sketches, 
stories and verses explaining or illustrating observances of 
the holidays. 

Scudder, M. T. The Field Day and Play Picnic for Country 
Children. New York Charities Publication Committee, 1907. 
10c. 

Compact and suggestive. An excellent hand-book. 

Wisconsin—State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Arbor 
and Bird Day Annual. Madison. Published by the State. 

“Prepared for use in the schools of Wisconsin. Issue for 
1912 contains valuable suggestions on the subject of fire 
prevention and program for celebration of Fire Protection 
Day which has been added to Arbor and Bird Day in that 
state.” R. S. F. Rec. Bib. 


Periodicals 

A Greek Pageant in Tennessee. Current Opinion, September, 
1913, v. 55, pp. 144-175. 

The Nashville pageant. 

Adams, S. H. Milady in Motley, Collier, March 15, 1913, v. 50, 
pp. 8-9. 

Impressions of a visitor at the New Orleans Mardi Gras. 

Bjorkman, F. M. A Nation Learning to Play. World’s Work, 
September, 1909, v. 18, pp. 12038-12045. 

Country Fair as an Exhibition Center. Craftsman, September, 
3911, v. 20, pp. 581-588. 

The right type of country fair. 

Emmons, Myra. Pageantry for Children. Outlook, July 22, 
1911, v. 98, pp. 659-664. 

Certain historical pageants. 

Festivals and Pageants. The Playground, February, 1911, v. 4, 
no. 11. 25c. 

Gale, Zona. Robin Hood in Jones Street. Outlook, June 26, 

1909, v. 92. 

“Young folks of Greenwich House, settlement in lower 
New York, hold a mid-May festival, or Merry Masque, with 
May pole, dances and Robin Hood masque.” R. S. F. Rec. 
Bib. 

Greatest Show on Earth. Survey, September 17, 1912, v. 28, 
pp. 731-733. 

A South Park Chicago circus. 

Growth and Pleasure of Pageants. World’s Work, November, 

1910, v, 21, pp. 13596-13597. 

[ 195 ] 







Hofer, M. R. Folk Game and Festival. Charities and the Com¬ 
mons, August 3, 1907, v. 18, pp. 556-562. 

Hooke, T. Portola Festival: San Francisco. Overland, Decem¬ 
ber 13, v. 62, pp. 525-532. 

James, G. W. Tournament of Roses, in Pasadena, New Year’s, 
1912. Out West, November, 1911, v. 2, pp. 259-261. 

Kock, F. J. Mardi Gras Days and the Mardi Gras City. Over¬ 
land, March, 1907, n. s., v. 49, pp. 199-204. 

Relates the chief characteristics of the New Orleans 
Carnival. 

Lights Reminiscent: Spirit of the Portola Carnival in San Fran¬ 
cisco. Overland, December, 1909, n. s., v. 54, pp. 600-605. 

Langdon, W. C. Philadelphia Historical Pageant. Survey, No¬ 
vember 23, 1912, v. 29, pp. 215-218. 

Langdon, W. C. The New York Conference on Pageantry. The 

Drama, May, 1914, no. 14, pp. 307-315. 

Lloyd-Jones, Richard. The Significance of State Fairs. Col¬ 
lier, October 1, 1910, v. 46, pp. 16-17. 

The work done by the state Harvest Festivals to advance 
industrial welfare. 

Lord, Katherine. To Give a Pageant in a Small Town. Ladies ’ 

Home Journal, February, 1913, v. 30, p. 24. 

MacKay, Hazel. Outdoor Plays and Pageants. Independent, 
June 2, 1910, v. 68, pp. 1227-1234. 

A sketch of the movement in America. 

MacKay, Hazel. The Peterborough Pageant. The Drama, 
February, 1911, v. 1, pp. 136-147. 

MacKaye, Percy. American Pageants and Their Promise. 

Scribner, July, 1909, v. 46, pp. 28-34. 

MacKaye, Percy. The New Fourth of July. Century, July, 
1910. 

Gives valuable suggestions on the production of pageants. 
Needham, M. M. Festa in America. Outlook, October 28, 1911, 

v. 99, pp. 523-531. 

Significant points about festivals. 

New Orleans Mardi Gras. Outlook, March 28, 1908, v. 88, pp. 
679-680. 

Interpretation of the Mardi Gras. 

Pageant of Old Deerfield. Outlook, October 4, 1913, v. 105 
pp. 277—279. 

Palmer, L. E. From Cave Life to City Life. Survey, December 
3, 1910, v. 25, pp. 388-392. 

A greater Boston pageant. 

Porter, E. C. Pageant of Progress. Outlook, November 23, 
1912, v. 102, pp. 653-659. 

A Mount Holyoke college pageant. 

[196] 






ftiis, Jacob. Rescuing our National Festivals. Craftsman, 
February, 1913, v. 23, pp. 496-500. 

Community Christmas trees and other festivals. 

Spectator. Pageant at Thetford. Outlook, September 30, 1911, 
v. 99, pp. 289-291. 

Interprets the significance of a country town pageant 
led by a minister. 

Stanley, R. A County Fair Uplift. Country Life, August, 
1913, v. 24, p. 52. 

A New York county fair is revolutionized. 

Scudder, Myron. Organized Play in the Country. Charities 
and the Commons, August 3, 1907, v. 18, pp. 547-556. 

Taylor, G. R. The Chicago Play Festival. Charities and the 
Commons, July 4, 1908, v. 20, pp. 539-548. 

The World in Chicago. Survey, July 19, 1913, v. 30, pp. 529-532. 

A missionary pageant in Chicago. 

Wade, H. T. What the Pageant Does for Local History. Re¬ 
view of Reviews, September, 1913, v. 48, pp. 328-333. 

Local pride and social improvement. 

Wiggin, K. D. How We Attracted Two Thousand People to a 
County Fair. Ladies ’ Home Journal, July, 1912, v. 29, p.15. 

Wright, W. H. Mission Pageant at San Gabriel. Bookman, 
July, 1912, v. 35, pp. 489-496. 

A successful California pageant. 


6 CITY DEPARTMENTS OF RECREATION 

“We continually forget how new the modern city is and how 
short the span of time in which we have assumed that we can 
eliminate from public life public recreation. The Greeks and 
Romans held games to be an integral part of patriotism. It 
would be interesting to trace how far this thoughtless conclu¬ 
sion (that the modern city need not provide recreation) is re¬ 
sponsible for the vicious excitements and trivial amusements 
which in a modern city so largely take the place formerly sup¬ 
plied by public recreation and manly sports. It would be illum¬ 
inating to know the legitimate connection between lack of 
public facilities for decent pleasures and our present social 
immoralities.” 72 

In the spirit of these words, constructive public 
opinion is active in the establishment of city depart- 

72 q. r Henderson, Preventative Agencies and Methods, quoting 
Jane Addams. p. 380. 


[ 197 ] 







ments of recreation, coordinating with other branches 
of city government. A few cities have already estab¬ 
lished such departments, and there is now a rapidly de¬ 
veloping extension of this movement. If these depart¬ 
ments are put under the supervision of men and wo¬ 
men who recognize, on the other hand, the social and 
moral enormity of much that is now urged upon young 
people under amusement labels, and who have, on the 
other hand, an unshakeable faith in the young people 
who pass under their supervision, we may expect far 
reaching results. 

The development and administration of these de¬ 
partments of recreation present many problems, for the 
available buildings and equipment are often under the 
control of other departments of the city government, 
such as the park boards and boards of education. In 
treating the forms of administration now in use, Row¬ 
land llaynes makes important suggestions in The 
Recreation Survey of Kansas City, Mo., and a classifi¬ 
cation of administrative work is given: 

“By public recreation is meant some form of supervised rec¬ 
reation. Parks laid out primarily to beautify the city and used 
for auto drives, picnic parties, etc., furnish valuable recrea¬ 
tion, but this sort is distinguished from supervised recreation 
in the form of playgrounds, field houses, and recreation cen¬ 
ters. This distinction is made even in cities where the super¬ 
vision of these facilities is in the same hands as the super¬ 
vision of the parks built primarily for beauty. The adminis¬ 
trative work of public recreation falls under three heads: facili¬ 
ties, care-taking, and supervision. By facilities are meant 
grounds, buildings, and equipment, both in the form of per¬ 
manent apparatus and perishable supplies. By care-taking is 
meant all forms of attendant services, both for grounds and 
buildings, such as janitors, field house attendants, bath attend¬ 
ants, and the like. Under supervision is included all forms 
of instruction service such as club leaders, playground super- 


[ 198 ] 




visor, directors, and part-time assistants, recreation center 
directors, and the like.” 

The classification of forms of administration is as 
follows: 

1 Under one form of administration facilities, care¬ 
taking, and supervision are all under control of some 
board primarily created for some other purpose, such 
as the school board or the park board. 

2 A second type of administration puts the conduct 
of all public recreation in the hands of a board or com¬ 
mission created expressly for that purpose. The facil¬ 
ities and supervision are under this one board, which 
is a separate and independent board with powers of 
control over the properties placed in its charge. 

3 The third form is joint action, in two ways, as 
follows: 

“Under the first form of this type of administration the fa¬ 
cilities are under the control of the hoards to whose care these 
facilities were originally entrusted. The supervision is put 
in the hands of one of these boards, namely, a board primarily 
created for some other purpose. The second form of joint ac¬ 
tion is like the first, except that the supervision is put in the 
hands of a board expressly created to carry on supervised rec¬ 
reation.” 

“Some form of the joint action type of administration is 
inevitable in any comprehensive plan for a city’s recreation, 
because such a comprehensive plan requires the use of facili¬ 
ties which are used part of the time for other purposes. To 
get unity in the system under joint action, provision has to be 
made for cooperation of various boards in the matter of facili¬ 
ties and for the supervision of recreational activities under 
one head. The control of facilities and of supervision cannot 
be in all cases under the same board because, while several 
boards contribute facilities, it is impossible, except in a small 
city, for several boards to contribute supervision and still have 
unity in the supervision.” 

The outstanding importance of the recreation super- 

[199] 





intendent is made clear by Mr. Haynes in a report on 
Rochester’s needs. He writes: 


“The securing of a well-trained, experienced and capable rec¬ 
reation superintendent, giving his entire time to the recreation 
problem in the city, having general oversight of all the recrea¬ 
tion work, and with power to carry out measures of efficiency, 
—this is the fundamental and most urgent need. It is even 
more important than working out a method of administration. 
As nearly as we can estimate the task of a recreation super¬ 
intendent in Rochester—as the work stands at present, without 
any developments—it is equivalent to the task of running a 
school with an enrollment of 4,249. * * * If the work de¬ 

velops as it should, the task of the recreation superintendent 
will become as large and as important as that of the superin 
tendent of schools at present.” 




The final recommendation of the California report 
is: 

“That the system of maintaining separate park commis¬ 
sions and playground commissions be abolished, and that in 
their stead, public recreation commissions be created, which 
public recreation commissions shall have complete control and 
supervision over all places and forms of public and commer¬ 
cialized recreation.” 

What large results may the public expect from the 
establishment of recreation departments in city govern¬ 
ment? Our study would lead us to hope that they 
might serve the double need for restrictive and con¬ 
structive action. 

First, there should be such regulation of commercial 
enterprises as will make impossible the glaring evils 
now associated with many of them (an immediate re¬ 
sult to be desired), restrictive action on a high level of 
intelligence, artistic appreciation, and moral dignity. 

Second, There should be such a far reaching con¬ 
structive program as will include the provision and use 
of adequate facilities for public recreation, and its 


[ 200 ] 






sympathetic supervision. This may rightly be ex¬ 
pected. 

May we not look to city recreation departments for 
civic theaters expressive of our common life? May we 
not look to them for social and recreation centers 
wisely supervised? May we not look to them for the 
fostering of universal athletics? May we not look to 
them for the provision and utilization of public parks 
and playing fields, little and large? May we not look 
to them for worthy pageants and public festivals? We 
may, if we look to ourselves for these things after the 
fashion of a democracy. 

We may indeed rightly expect them to take the lead 
in the high art of social education—the stimulation of 
common action and community consciousness. If they 
are well administered they may make no less a contri¬ 
bution to our common life than is now being made by 
those responsible for formal education. They will be 
dealing with equally significant activities of the human 
spirit, and may guide it to joyous releases by the unify¬ 
ing power of organized recreation. They may, if they 
will, lead the way to the new city state, to the new day 
of free cities, free with a new freedom, outshining those 
of ancient Greece—to the commonwealth of the future 
in which the uses of leisure shall be no less effective 
than the uses of labor in the service of the common 
good. 

Suggestions for Group Discussion 

1 How shall we meet the objection that a city de¬ 
partment of recreation costs the taxpayers more 
money? Is it justifiable even if it does? Where could 
money be saved by a thorough recreation program? 


[ 201 ] 






2 What administrative problems would have to be 
solved in “our town?” 

3 What organization is now doing the largest part 
of the work properly belonging to a recreation depart¬ 
ment ? 

4 Is there fundamental opposition to the policy of 
the public provision of recreation ? Where does it come 
from ? 


Bibliography 


City Departments of Recreation 

See Recreation Surveys listed under I The Amusement Situa¬ 
tion in General. 


Periodicals 

Addams, Jane. Recreation as a Public Function in Urban Com¬ 
munities. American Journal of Sociology. March, 1912, 
v. 17, pp. 615-619. 

The city must provide for recreational needs. 

Braucher, H. S. How to Aid the Cause of Public Recreation. 

American City, April, 1913, v. 8, pp. 367-371. 

Things for citizens to do, a community program. 

Self-government in Public Recreation. Survey, August 23, 1913, 

v. 30, p. 638. 

A significant movement. 




SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOR LOCAL 
ACTION 


















































































• 










































































I THE AMUSEMENT SITUATION IN GENERAL 

The first duty of any group of citizens who desire to 
improve conditions in their own community, is to learn 
the facts of the amusement situation as it exists in their 
midst. Wise action can only proceed on a definite basis 
of fact. 

Getting reliable facts may mean: 

1 A recreation survey similar to those listed in the 
bibliography. If this is done thoroughly by an expert, 
the report should embrace not only an accurate state¬ 
ment of conditions, but also the outline of a recreation 
program in a series of comprehensive suggestions. 
There should be full correspondence in regard to local 
problems with the Playground and Recreation Associa¬ 
tion of America, 1 Madison Ave., New York City, or 
with the Recreation Department of the Russell Sage 
Foundation, 130 East 22nd St., New York City. 

2 Communities which are unable to undertake a 
survey covering all forms of recreation may well un¬ 
dertake an investigation covering some single phase of 
the problem,—perhaps the one in which the worst evils 
seem to exist. It may be limited as closely as may 
seem desirable, either to a single type of institutions, 
e. g., pool halls, or to a single institution such as a bur¬ 
lesque theater. An amusement park might well be 
taken as showing a complex of problems in one place. 
This is, of course, a less comprehensive method than 
that of the general survey, and likewise less expensive. 
It should be looked upon as a beginning only. No gen¬ 
eralizations covering the whole amusement situation 
can be made from it, yet valuable public interest and 
action may be set in motion by it. Careful work should 
be done by reliable persons in getting the facts so that 

[205] 




there may be a body of accurate information on the 
basis of which future action may be taken. This in¬ 
formation should be of such a character as to be usable 
for evidence in court procedure. 

Restrictive Action 

Restrictive action has its sources of power in the 
laws of the state, the ordinances of the city, the execu¬ 
tive regulations of officials, or the public action of 
groups of citizens. The essential requirement for this 
type of action, therefore, in addition to that cited 
above, is a knowledge of laws, ordinances and regula¬ 
tions, as operative in relation to amusement enterprises. 
With a knowledge of conditions, and a knowledge of 
laws and ordinances in force, a group of citizens is pre¬ 
pared for such restrictive action as it may decide upon 
deliberation to take. 

Restrictive action may be of several kinds: 

1 An appeal in the name of the group may be made 
to the mayor, the chief of police, or other official, to 
enforce the law, on the basis of facts laid before them. 

2 An appeal may be made to the district or city 
attorney to prosecute the offending parties on behalf 
of the state or city. 

3 Pressure may be brought upon public officials to 
do their full duty by public presentation of the evils 
to which the community is exposed in violation of law. 
This may be done in mass meetings, where public 
speaking and the use of literature are the chief factors. 
Political opposition to the reelection of officials who re¬ 
fuse to enforce the laws and political support of candi¬ 
dates pledging themselves for such enforcement are 
frequently effective. 

4 The effort to secure the passage of ( more adequate 

[ 206 ] 



laws or ordinances involves ordinarily the public pres¬ 
entation of the proposed legislation, in order that, pub¬ 
lic support may be gained; the introduction of well 
drawn bills, under friendly auspices, into the legislative 
body, their favorable report by the committee to which 
they are assigned; final favorable passage and signa¬ 
ture by the governor or mayor. 

5 There is a valuable form of restrictive action by 
which it is frequently possible to secure a desired re¬ 
sult in a particular instance. That is, for a group of 
citizens—the more influential the better—to take up di¬ 
rectly with the management of the offending enterprise 
the complaints which they desire to make, and seek to 
enlist the cooperation of the management in remedying 
conditions. A suprising degree of cooperation can 
sometimes be secured. Where cooperation is not read¬ 
ily forthcoming, it is well to remember that commercial 
management is always dependent on public favor. Any 
public opinion which has power enough to make itself 
felt through the pocketbook receives attention. 


Constructive Action 

The procedure in constructive action is a less direct 
attack upon specific evils. It is rather an attempt to 
provide in wholesome surroundings for the normal 
expression of a pleasure which has been abused or per¬ 
verted by commercial or vicious influences. This in¬ 
volves an acquaintance with various forms of construc¬ 
tive action which have been taken elsewhere or which 
may be supposed to aid in producing better conditions. 
Our study has sketched some of the efforts now di¬ 
rected to these ends. All of them are capable of local 
adaptation and development. Specific suggestions are, 
made in the following pages. A comprehensive pro- 


[ 207 ] 





gram covering various phases of effort may well be 
made. The closest possible cooperation should be main¬ 
tained between those who naturally work restrict ively 
and those who prefer to work constructively. Fre¬ 
quently they will be the same group of persons work¬ 
ing by the two methods for a single end. 

The beginning of constructive action in any com¬ 
munity lies in a full appreciation of the value of play. 
This is the basic fact upon which to build a recreation 
program. The people must be led to believe in play, 
to believe that “our town” must have better organized, 
better supervised play. Especially must it have more 
play. To preach the gospel of wholesome play in lec¬ 
tures and public discussions, in the press, and by ex¬ 
ample, may be the first duty of any group of interested 
citizens. Make it vigorous and attractive. In villages 
and country districts lethargy and the lack of leader¬ 
ship are the main factors in the problem. To foster 
every sort of wholesome private recreation under high 
grade leadership, to work out a play program, to quick¬ 
en clean athletic sports and field days, a town festival— 
these will make for health and happiness, for friendliness 
and community loyalty in “our town” as well as else¬ 
where. The play prograip. will have many elements and 
rely upon many cooperating groups of citizens, but it 
ought as far as possible to be in the hands of young 
people and have their enthusiastic approval and parti¬ 
cipation. It ought to be a democratic expression of 
their interests in building community loyalty. 



II THE DRAMATIC GROUP 
Restrictive Action 

1 Cooperation with the theater management may 
be secured by a group of citizens, and an effort made to 
eliminate the offensive play or plays. 

2 An appeal may be made to the mayor or chief of 
police to enforce the law. 

3 An appeal may be made to the district attorney 
to bring suit. The end sought in this action is usually 

'the revocation of the license and the punishment of the 
| responsible persons. One difficulty involved in taking 
direct action against a particular theatrical production 
is that publicity follows, and attracts a certain type of 
public, so that audiences often increase and little or 
nothing is accomplished. Action covering more than 
one production is essential. 

4 An effort may be made to secure the appointment 
of one or more censors, who shall have power to pass 
on productions before they are put before the public. 
In motion pictures a local censorship board may be es¬ 
tablished by joint action of the various managers, the 
city government and interested citizens. 

5 Public support may be enlisted for the passing of 
such measures as that eliminating vaudeville from mo¬ 
tion picture shows, young children from participation 
in theatrical productions, and similar reforms. 

Constructive Action 

1 The production of the best plays may be fostered 
by the drama league or similar plan, and dramatic 
taste be cultivated by lectures and discussions. 

2 Amateur theatricals may be developed through 


[ 209 ] 






dramatic reading circles and the acting of original 3 
plays or those by the best dramatists. 

3 Interest in an endowed theater for amateurs may 
be quickened. 

4 The educational uses of motion pictures may be > 
magnified, and their use extended to the schools and 
parks. 


Ill THE SOCIAL RENDEZVOUS GROUP 
Restrictive Action 

1 Cooperation may be secured by a group of citi¬ 
zens with the management of a public dance hall, cafe 
with amusement features, or other institution of this 
group to preserve better order, eliminate the sale of 
liquor to minors or in places where it is forbidden by 
law, the prevention of immoral dancing, gambling and 
soliciting by immoral women or men, and similar re¬ 
forms. 

2 An appeal may be made to the mayor, chief of : 
police, or other official to enfore the law or city ordi¬ 
nances in respect to evils arising in places of this type. 

3 An appeal may be made to the district or city at¬ 
torney to bring suit. 

Constructive Action 

1 Support may be given to restaurants and cafes 
which do not offer unwholesome amusement features. 

2 Support may be given to all such institutions as 
social settlements, churches, Christian Associations, 
lodges and social clubs, which maintain a high grade 
social life of their own. 


[ 210 ] 



3 Selective social life may be fostered among all 
groups of young people. 

4 T he use of public halls may be rendered unneces¬ 
sary by the provision and group use of social centers 
and other facilities. 

5 Folk dancing may be cultivated and social dances 
may be taught and danced properly. 

IV THE ATHLETIC GROUP 
Restrictive Action 

1 The cooperation of captains, officials and members 
of teams may be secured by a group of citizens in the 
elimination of rough and unfair play and all use of pro¬ 
fessionals in amateur games. 

2 The cooperation of spectators may be secured in 
the elimination of discourtesies to visiting teams and 
similar forms of conduct. 

3 City and state officials may be invoked to enforce 
the laws against gambling and prize-fighting. Public 
pressure may be brought to bear upon them as already 
suggested. 

Constructive Action 

1 Amateur athletics of all kinds under wise super¬ 
vision may be organized among the young people of the 
community. 

2 The full use of public parks and playing fields, 
gymnasiums and bathing beaches, and the like, may be 
fostered by making them easily accessible to all who 
would use them. 

3 Enthusiasm for all forms of outdoor sports may 
be developed by volunteer or professional play leaders. 

4 Cooperation may be offered in securing the 
highest grade men for officials at games. 


[ 211 ] 




V SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PLACES 

Restrictive Action 

1 The cooperation of the owners and managers of 
amusement parks may be secured by fully acquainting 
them with existing evils. The restriction of evil prac¬ 
tices may thus be secured. 

2 An appeal may be made to city or county officials 
to enforce the law against those responsible for drunk¬ 
enness, gambling and vice. 

3 An appeal may be made to the city or district at¬ 
torney to bring suit against the management and seek j 
the closing of the enterprise. 

Constructive Action 

1 The larger provision and social use of public 
parks, playgrounds, and playing fields may be fostered. 

2 The full support and commendation of the well 
run commercial enterprise may add to its power in com¬ 
petition with loosely conducted resorts. 

3 The utilization of sites of natural beauty may be 
made possible at public expense and their use made 
popular. 

VI SPECIAL AMUSEMENT EVENTS 

Restrictive Action 

1 The cooperation of those promoting amusement 
events may be secured by a group of citizens and evil 
features obviated by careful provision made in ad¬ 
vance. 

2 The police and other city officials may be fore¬ 
warned. 

3 Detectives may be employed to secure evidence 
for later use in prosecutions. 


[ 212 ] 






Constructive Action 

1 The community may be educated to a full appre¬ 
ciation of the field day, pageant, sane Fourth, and sim- 
ilar celebrations. 

2 A group of citizens may undertake small celebra¬ 
tions and work up to the preparation of a festival pag¬ 
eant. 

^ Leaders in country districts may attain large re¬ 
sults by arranging a field day. An “Old Home Week” 
helps community spirit. 


APPENDIX 

Vocational Opportunities 

It should be clearly recognized that those who actu¬ 
ally conduct commercial amusement enterprises with 
a high sense of their public duty and a scrupulous re¬ 
gard for the wholesomeness and moral character of 
their enterprises, may perhaps accomplish more than 
all others in the solution of the problem. There is, 
however, a large and increasing demand for well 
trained young men and women to take up the pursuit 
of such vocations as the following, all of which con¬ 
tribute directly to the improvement of recreational 
life. Many opportunities in other professions, such 
as settlement work teaching and the ministry, which 
contribute less directly to the solution of the problem, 
are already well known. 

“Of the positions open, the first in importance is the recrea¬ 
tion secretary, whose work involves the organization and direc¬ 
tion of the entire recreation activities of a town or city. In 
relative importance, this position is similar to that of the su¬ 
perintendent of schools. It requires strong executive ability. 


[ 213 ] 







Within the last year, eleven cities have engaged such a worker, 
and at the present time as many more have the matter under 
serious consideration. The salaries paid for this position at 
the present time range from $1,200 to $5,000. Other positions 
are those (1) of recreation supervisor—a worker who has 
charge of a number of playgrounds in the summer and if the 
position is an all-the-year one, of recreation centers in the win¬ 
ter. The salaries being paid run from $1,000 to $2,000 per 
year. (2) Recreation director, or general manager of a single 
playground or recreation center, with assistants working un¬ 
der him: from $70 a month to $1,800 per year is being paid 
for one in this capacity. (3) Play leader or recreation assist¬ 
ant having charge of play activities of children, teaching 
games, industrial classes, etc. Salaries range from $50 per 
month up to $1,000 per year.” 73 


The directorship of physical training and recreation 
in a large number of schools and colleges is also open 
to qualified men and women. 

Special opportunities for women include directors 
of physical education and athletics, teachers of dram¬ 
atics, folk dancing, manual training and industrial 
work, storytellers, and leaders in pageantry and other 
special activities. These comprise the third group. 

Courses of instruction for vocations in recreation 
work are now being offered by more than fifty educa¬ 
tional institutions throughout the country. 

Further information regarding openings in recrea¬ 
tion work may be secured by addressing the Play¬ 
ground and Recreation Association of America, 1 
Madison Ave., New York City. 


Questions for Debaters 

1 Resolved that the evils arising in connection 
with prevalent amusements in America are due more 


73 A special statement from the Playground and Recreation Associ¬ 
ation. 


[ 214 ] 







largely to commercial exploitation of the play spirit 
than to living and working conditions in our cities. 

2 Resolved that dramatic censors should be ap¬ 
pointed by the mayors of all cities and given police 
power to stop immoral shows. 

3 Resolved that vaudeville has “done more to cor¬ 
rupt, vitiate and degrade public taste in matters re¬ 
lating to the stage than all other influences put to¬ 
gether.” 

4 Resolved that motion pictures as now being 
shown in America have a highly educational and moral 
effect. 

5 Resolved that burlesque shows as ordinarily put 
on in America are so demoralizing that they should 
be prohibited by law. 

6 Resolved that endowed theaters are the greatest 
dramatic need in America today. 

7 Resolved that the serious drama as now pre¬ 
sented in America is an elevating moral influence. 

8 Resolved that “there is no such thing per se as 
immoral subject matter for drama.” 

9 Resolved that football as now played In Amer- 
I ican colleges is physically dangerous, interferes with 

study, and ought to be abolished by faculty action. 

10 Resolved that play is no less important than 
work. 

11 Resolved that all social reforms can be carried 
I out by constructive social work without the aid of 

direct efforts to suppress and stamp out evil. 

12 Resolved that the wider use of school buildings 
is more important than all restrictive legislation in 
regard to amusements. 

13 Resolved that there should be an official board 
of censorship of motion pictures created by the na¬ 
tional government. 


[ 215 ] 






Suggestions for the Use of this Study by 
Discussion Groups 

Note carefully that the method of the study, as 
planned, is to take up first the outstanding facts of 
public amusements, frankly studying the evils in¬ 
volved in order that they may be recognized as con¬ 
stituting a widespread, varied, and yet unified social 
problem. The large percentage of good in most of 
these forms of amusement is taken for granted 
throughout, and should not be forgotten. Aggravated 
phases receive especial attention because we are try¬ 
ing to get at the problem of popular amusements. We 
pass from the consideration of the problem to the so¬ 
lution of the problem, beginning with the need of pub¬ 
lic awakening. Public opinion as registered in re¬ 
strictive action is next considered, and then construc¬ 
tive efforts to solve the problem. Definite suggestions 
for local action, both restrictive and constructive, are 
then given. 

No rigid outline for the assignment of topics for 
discussion is made because of the varying degrees of 
thoroughness with which different groups will study 
and the varied number of discussions which they will 
devote to it. The briefest possible treatment of the 
whole subject in a discussion group would seem to be 
in sixteen meetings as follows: (Numerals below re¬ 
fer to topics listed in the Contents, p. 3). 

1st meeting, Problem I; 2nd, Problem II; 3rd, Prob¬ 
lem III; 4th, Problem IY; 5th, Problem Y; 6th, Prob¬ 
lem YI; 7th, Solutions I; 8th, Solutions II, phases 1-3 
inclusive; 9th, Solutions II, 4-6; 10th, Solutions III, 
phase 1; 11th, Solutions III, 2; 12th, Solutions III, 3; 
13th, Solutions III, 4; 14th, Solutions III, 5; 15th, So¬ 
lutions III, 6; 16th meeting, the local program. 

[ 216 ] 







Experience proves, however, that only a cursory 
view of the subject can be gained in this number of 
meetings, and a considerably longer time should be 
devoted if possible. Special attention can then be 
given to subjects which elicit the special interest of 
the group. It is possible, of course, to take up cer¬ 
tain sections of the problem, omitting others. 

An alternative method of study is available for 
those who desire to consider each phase of the prob¬ 
lem, as The Dramatic, under each of the four headings, 
as follows, before taking up another phase: 1 The 
Problem, 2 Restrictive Action, 3 Constructive Ac¬ 
tion, 4 Local Action. 

Those who use this method should develop their out¬ 
line in accordance with the desires of their own group. 
Cross references will be found in the suggestions for 
group discussion under each topic to other pages 
where the same topic is treated. Still further mate¬ 
rial upon each topic will be found in Christianity and 
Popular Amusements. 

The advantage of this method is, for example, to 
have the consideration of dramatic facts immediately 
followed by dramatic solutions. The corresponding 
disadvantage is a loss in that sense of the unity and se¬ 
riousness of the problem as a single problem which is 
gained by the other method. Far more satisfactory 
results will be obtained by most groups, especially 
those doing thorough and comprehensive work, if the 
first method is followed. 


[ 217 ] 















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